A man accused of acting as the getaway driver after a street mugging has gone on trial.
Peter Banks, 64, denied robbery relating to an incident in Whitehaven on January 9. On that date, Courtney Leigh Johnson was shoved to the ground and robbed of a mobile phone.
On day one of the trial today, jurors were told 47-year-old Mark Mercer had previously admitted being the robber.
Banks, using his black Volkswagen Golf, is alleged to have picked up Mercer close to the crime scene and driven him away.
Opening the case, prosecutor Gerard Rogerson said: "It is the Crown's case this was a robbery which involved Mark Mercer committing the robbery and Peter Banks, who drove him away, providing the transport."
But when he gave evidence Banks, of Church Road, Harrington, Workington, denied any wrongdoing, saying he had taken Mercer shopping.
"Were you a getaway driver?" asked Jamie Baxter, his defence counsel.
"No," replied Banks.
The trial continues.
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