The cousin of a man accused of murdering Stretford Grammar headteacher Michael Mullins has told jurors the defendant knew the cyclist was under his car as he was dragged to his death, while she watched from the passenger seat.
Gabrielle Debotte, who was in Simon Richardson's Volvo, said he told her 'he's under the car' before she heard 'moaning' from beneath the vehicle. Richardson, 35, is accused of hitting the educator as he cycled home from work on April 20.
Prosecutors allege Richardson did not stop and 'put his foot down', dragging 56-year-old Mullins along the road for 2.2km - 1.3 miles - before leaving him to die on a grass verge on Wet Gate Lane in Lymm.
Witness describes collision
Giving evidence from behind a screen, front seat passenger Ms Debotte, 27, said her cousin was driving 'erratically' and 'at speed' as they approached the junction of Dunham Road and Paddock Lane immediately before the collision.
She said: “I said ‘you need to slow down’. He smirked and said ‘I’m a professional driver’.”
“As we approached the junction I noticed the bike coming towards us. I shouted ‘bike’ three times because I noticed that Simon was not stopping. I was trying to get him to stop and let the bike across. He didn’t slow down and crashed into the bike. From what I remember it was the front of the car that hit the bike.”
Aftermath and removal attempts
Ms Debotte said Richardson stopped his car “for a split second” and then drove on. Prosecutor Phil Barnes KC asked: “In that split second did either of you say anything to the other?” She replied: “I said to him ‘you need to get out’. He didn’t say anything.”
She told jurors Richardson's driving after the collision was 'erratic'. “He was swerving the wheel. You could hear a noise underneath the car. As he heard that noise he began swerving the wheel,” she said. Describing the noise, she said: “Moaning.”
“How do you know he heard the noise?” Mr Barnes asked. “He told me,” she said. “What did he say?” the prosecutor asked. “He’s under the car,” Ms Debotte said.
Prosecutors allege Richardson stopped the Volvo for around two minutes when he made 'concerted physical efforts' to remove Mullins from under the car. Ms Debotte said Richardson got out of the car on the right hand side then went to the front of the car to the left hand side.
“What did he do to try and remove him from underneath the car?,” Mr Barnes asked. The witness said: “I’m not sure, I didn’t see exactly, but I could hear him struggling. I could hear him struggling as he was trying to lift something.”
“Was he successful in removing him?,” Mr Barnes asked. “No,” she replied. She said he walked back round to the driver’s side, turned the wheel, got back out and tried to do it again. “He tried to do the same thing again,” she said.
State of mind and later events
Ms Debotte said he then got back into the car and that they didn't say anything to each other. “What sort of state of mind were you in? How did you feel?,” Mr Barnes asked. In tears, she said: “Shocked, scared, I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. I still have visions of it. The door was locked initially, I couldn’t get out. I was frozen.”
Asked why she didn't call the police after the collision, she said: “I don’t know, I had not been in a situation like that before in my life. I didn’t know what I was doing. I was in shock.”
She later told the court she heard Richardson “laughing and joking” with a friend at their family home hours after the collision. Footage played in court showed Richardson buying fuel at a petrol station after the collision and swapping the Volvo with a van he was later stopped in.
Richardson, of no fixed address, but formerly of Epsom Avenue, Sale, denies murder; an alternate offence of manslaughter; and dangerous driving. He is on trial at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court.
