A trail of blood more than a mile in length led to a dying headteacher who was mowed down and dragged underneath a car, a murder trial has heard.
asserted
trial → lead → car
Michael Mullins, 56, was struck by a black Volvo XC90 as he cycled home from Stretford Grammar School in Manchester during the evening of April 20.
asserted
he → strike → April
Simon Richardson, 35, is said to have driven at speed through give-way markers at a junction in Warburton, Altrincham, before ploughing into the headteacher.
asserted
Richardson → say → headteacher
Prosecutors allege that he knew Mr Mullins was beneath the wheels of his vehicle but deliberately continued on his journey, speeding up to 60mph and leaving a trail of blood behind.
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Mullins → allege → blood
They accuse Richardson of murder because of his decision to not to stop the car and to carry on.
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They → accuse → car
Mr Mullins, who had been the head of Stretford Grammar School for 17 years, suffered fatal injuries from being stuck underneath the wheels of the SUV, the court heard.
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court → suffer → SUV
At one point he stopped and saw Mr Mullins was still alive – but after unsuccessfully trying to dislodge him he set off again, swerving and mounting a grass verge, the court heard.
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court → stop → verge
Finally, after the headteacher was thrown clear, Richardson allegedly ran over him again before driving off, leaving him in the road.
uncertain
Richardson → throw → road
Michael Mullins, 56, was killed as he cycled home from Grammar School in Manchesteron April 20
On Wednesday, jurors heard from a motorcyclist who discovered Mr Mullins lying on a grass verge in Lymm, Cheshire, around two kilometres from the crash in Paddock Lane.
asserted
Mullins → kill → Lane
Andrew Besant-Roberts arrived at the junction with Dunham Road and was told a cyclist may have been trapped under a car.
uncertain
cyclist → arrive → car
In a statement read to the court, he said: 'I very quickly noticed a strange trail on the road.
'
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I → read → road
I didn't know what it was initially, but I thought it was suspicious.
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it → know → ?
'As I followed the trail, it suddenly occurred to me that it was blood.
'
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it → follow → me
As it went over a white line I could see it was red.
uncertain
it → go → line
The trail led to Mill Lane, a single carriageway in Lymm, and then on to Wet Gate Lane, a quiet country lane, the court heard.
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court → lead → Lane
Mr Besant-Roberts added: 'I noticed the trail started to weave from left to right.
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trail → add → right
This continued for a couple of hundred yards.
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This → continue → yards
'Then I saw a cyclist on a grass verge who appeared to be in a position similar to the recovery position.
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who → see → position
'He was laid on his side unconscious but I could see he was still breathing.'
uncertain
he → lay → side
He dialled 999 but said the cyclist 'began to deteriorate'.
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cyclist → dial → 999
He said: 'His breathing became worse and worse.
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breathing → say → ?
It was irregular with long pauses and then it just stopped.'
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it → stop → pauses
Mr Besant-Roberts was instructed by a call handler to give chest compressions before a paramedic arrived shortly after.
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paramedic → instruct → compressions
Mr Mullins, from Northwich, Cheshire, was pronounced dead at the scene at 6.50pm, about 40 minutes after the collision.
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Mullins → pronounce → collision
Earlier, a motorist parked at the Green Dragon pub in Mill Lane said she noticed something underneath a vehicle travelling at speed.
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she → park → speed
In a witness statement, Katie Woodward said: 'My first thought was that it was a body but I thought this was ridiculous and surely a body can't be under the car.
'
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body → say → car
I convinced myself it must have been an animal.
'
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it → convince → myself
As the vehicle drove along the road I saw it was leaving a trail coming from the passenger side.
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it → drive → side
She too decided to follow the 'thick, dark trail', the court was told, which stopped where Mr Mullins lay as he was being tended to by Mr Besant-Roberts.
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he → decide → Roberts
Mr Mullins, pictured with his children as a younger man, was treated by paramedics but declared dead at the roadside 40 minutes after the collision, jurors were told
Dog walker Peter Connell was on Mill Lane when he said he heard a 'loud, dragging sound' coming from a passing black car.
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he → picture → car
He said: 'It was an unusual sound.
'Something flapping round like cardboard or a plastic sheet.
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It → say → cardboard
'I looked under the car and I saw something big and flapping round the front passenger wheel.
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I → look → wheel
I thought it was bizarre that the driver had not realised they had something under the car and didn't stop.'
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they → think → car
The Crown says Richardson 'veered sharply and deliberately from side to side' in Wet Gate Lane before his car mounted the verge, and that he then drove over his victim at least once before he was finally dislodged.
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he → say → victim
Phil Barnes KC, prosecuting, previously told the jury that Mr Mullins was 'crushed to death' after being dragged more than a mile and a quarter.
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Mullins → prosecute → mile
He told jurors that 'for a significant proportion of that journey, Simon Richardson knew that Michael Mullins was there beneath his car - trapped and injured, but alive'.
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Mullins → tell → car
'He knew what he was doing by driving off would kill Michael Mullins or cause him the gravest of injuries and yet he drove on anyway,' he added.
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he → know → injuries
Richardson allegedly fled the scene of the crash at more than 60mph – twice the 30mph speed limit – after Mr Mullins' foot became trapped under the Volvo's front wheels.
uncertain
foot → flee → wheels
Graphic CCTV footage played to the jury showed how the headteacher was allegedly 'dragged to his death'.
uncertain
headteacher → play → death
He allegedly stopped at one point and saw that Mr Mullins was 'still alive' under his car, making 'concerted efforts' to dislodge him by turning the steering wheel.
uncertain
Mullins → stop → wheel
…and 13 more, not listed.
The Aporia
