A jury in the United Kingdom has found a 35-year-old driver guilty of murdering a well-known head teacher who was knocked off his bicycle and then dragged beneath an SUV for more than a mile before he died. The case, carried in Kenya by The Star from a BBC report, has drawn wide attention because of the disturbing detail heard in court.

Simon Richardson was convicted at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court on Friday, October 30, of murdering Michael Mullins, 56, the head teacher of Stretford Grammar School. He was also found guilty of dangerous driving. Reports said the jury reached its verdict after about two days of deliberations.

What the court heard

Mullins was cycling home from school on April 20 when he was struck by a Volvo XC90 in the Warburton area near Altrincham, Greater Manchester. Prosecutors said Richardson drove through give-way markings and hit the cyclist, who ended up trapped under the vehicle.

According to the prosecution case as reported by the BBC and ITV News:

  • Richardson drove on with Mullins underneath, then stopped on a nearby lane and got out twice in an attempt to free him.
  • He then drove onto a grass verge, which dislodged Mullins, and reversed over him before driving away.
  • Mullins was dragged for about 1.3 miles in total, according to UK media reports of the trial.
  • A motorcyclist later followed a trail of blood and found him barely breathing on a verge in Lymm, Cheshire. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Prosecutor Phil Barnes KC told the jury that Mullins' chest injuries were caused by "dragging and crushing", and argued that Richardson had chosen to drive away to escape the consequences of what he had done. Richardson was arrested the following day after a police chase.

The defence

Richardson denied murder and the alternative charge of manslaughter. His defence was that he did not realise Mullins was under the car, and his lawyers argued that his conduct, while selfish, did not amount to murder. He did not give evidence in his own defence.

His cousin, Gabrielle Debotte, who was in the front passenger seat, told the court that the two of them heard "moaning" after the collision. Earlier in the trial, she testified that Richardson had said "he's under the car".

Family tribute and sentencing

In a tribute, the Mullins family described him as a man who "was devoted to his family" and said his death had left a gap in their hearts. Mullins had led Stretford Grammar School for many years and was well known in the local education community.

Trial judge Mrs Justice Brunner KC told Richardson that the only sentence available for murder is life imprisonment. He will be sentenced on Monday, when the judge is expected to set the minimum term he must serve before he can be considered for release. The judge thanked the jurors and excused them from jury service for ten years.

Why it resonates in Kenya

Hit-and-run incidents are a frequent feature of Kenya's road crash statistics, and families here often complain that drivers who flee crash scenes are rarely traced or charged with serious offences. In the UK case, investigators relied on CCTV footage, the testimony of a passenger and a witness who found the victim to build a murder case rather than a lesser driving charge.

Kenyan road safety advocates have repeatedly called for tougher enforcement against drivers who fail to stop after crashes. The National Transport and Safety Authority recorded 3,995 road deaths in Kenya between January 1 and October 4 this year, an average of about 14 a day.

Photos: The Star/BBC (CCTV still); Minshull Street Crown Court by Bristol Filer via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Thumbnail design: HAMASTA MEDIA.