A rich eccentric American was chased into the path of an oncoming van by a pub landlord wielding an ironing board, the Old Bailey heard today.

Charles Hickox was mown down by a Mercedes in Hampton Court Road and died at the scene, the jury was told.

The bearded, scruffy-looking victim would wear blue tinted dark glasses and carry two ornamental mice and two tennis racquets, the jury was told.

But he was also a successful gambler and had access to “quite large sums of money” by his skill at calculating the odds.

Rostram Notarki, the landlord of the Cardinal Wolsey pub in Hampton, is said to have chased Mr Hickox with the ironing board causing the American to fall in front of the Mercedes.

He is charged with manslaughter and – together with his son Kian Notarki, and Mehrad Mohamadi – with perverting the course of justice by trying to hide CCTV of the incident.

Prosecutor Michelle Nelson said Mr Hickox, 53, had lived in the UK for some time and was “odd in appearance and manner.”

“He was tall and large with long greying hair and a bushy grey beard and has been described by some as unkempt or scruffy,” she said.

“On the day he died last September he was wearing blue tinted dark glasses and a blue track suit. He was carrying a number of blue plastic bags, bottles of wine and at least one bottle of beer.

“He carried unopened packets of cigarettes, he had two ornamental mice, which he would place on the table in front of him, and two tennis racquets.

“But in fact that wasn’t the full picture of his life. He had access to quite large sums of money, some of which may have come from success at gambling. He is known to have won large sums at Newmarket and was said to be very good at calculating the odds.”

That night he spent around £200 on six bottles of wine but a blood sample showed he would only have been mildly intoxicated, the court heard.

Around midday he had tried to order tea and Jack Daniels in a coffee shop but had to settle for tea and a beer.

That evening at the Cardinal Wolsey he asked for three bottles of expensive Italian wine then produced the two mice and started talking to them, the jury was told.

He left but went back to the pub believing that staff had held onto his credit card.

An argument ensued and Mr Hickox was seen racing out pursued by Rostram Notarki with an ironing board and Kian Notarki with a metal bar.

Rostron Notarki, 53 of Twickenham, denies manslaughter but admits perverting the course of justice.

Kian Notaki , 19 of Hampton, and Mehrad Mohmadi, 45 of Hampton, have pleaded not guilty to perverting the course of justice.

The case continues.