Driver jailed for life with 25-year minimum for dragging cyclist under his car for over a mile

A driver who left a headteacher trapped beneath his 4×4 and carried on driving for more than a mile has been jailed for life, and will serve at least 25 years before he can be considered for release. Simon Richardson, 35, of no fixed address, was sentenced at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on Monday, days after a jury found him guilty of murdering Michael Mullins.

What the court heard about the collision

Mr Mullins, 56, a father of two, was cycling home from Stretford Grammar School on the early evening of 20 April. The school is where he had been headteacher for 17 years. Richardson, driving a Volvo XC90, went through give-way markers and into his path, the court heard. Mr Mullins landed on the bonnet and windscreen before falling beneath the vehicle, where he became entangled in the suspension.

Prosecutors said Richardson knew the cyclist was trapped just inches below his feet. His front-seat passenger and cousin, Gabrielle Debotte, told the trial that both of them heard “moaning” from outside as he drove away from Paddock Lane in Warburton, and that Richardson then said words to the effect of “He’s under the car.”

The Crown said Richardson drove 1.3 miles to a secluded farm track on Wet Gate Lane in Lymm in an attempt to dislodge his victim, who prosecutors described as “the single, solid piece of evidence of what he was driving away from”. The court heard he twice tried to pull Mr Mullins out, then returned to the car and swerved sharply from side to side before mounting a grass verge. Mr Mullins was freed, but was run over again as Richardson reversed and drove off.

A motorcyclist followed a trail of blood from the scene and found Mr Mullins alone and barely breathing on the verge. Emergency services could not save him, and he died from multiple injuries.

Why the judge said Richardson was jailed for life

Passing sentence, Mrs Justice Brunner KC said Richardson had shown an “astonishing degree of disregard for human life”. She told him: “For every moment you carried on, you were knowingly using your heavy vehicle to cause serious injury to a man who was trapped, injured and completely helpless as a result of your actions. You did that because you decided escaping from the scene of an accident was more important than a human life.”

Richardson was arrested the day after the killing. He denied murder throughout a trial lasting more than two weeks, saying he had not realised Mr Mullins was under the car. He had also denied getting out of the vehicle to try to free him. Jurors returned their verdict on Friday. They also convicted him of dangerous driving on 21 April, relating to a police pursuit before his arrest.

The court heard that Richardson had 28 previous convictions. Prosecutor Phil Barnes KC described a “significant history” of driving offences. These included careless driving and failing to stop or report an accident in 2011, driving with excess alcohol and while disqualified in 2012, and driving while disqualified and uninsured in 2013. In 2023 he was convicted of driving without a licence and insurance.

For the defence, Jaime Hamilton KC said the lack of premeditation was a “significant feature” of the case and that Richardson had not intended to use his vehicle as a weapon. He said Richardson accepted that his actions led to Mr Mullins’s death and expressed remorse through his barrister. Richardson looked straight ahead as he was sentenced.

A family and a school left bereft

Sarah Mullins, his wife of 27 years, gave a statement to the court describing him as her “safety net” and “anchor”. She spoke of an “all-consuming lethargy that makes it feel difficult to put one foot in front of another”. She said: “My past, present and future have been brutally and callously torn apart… The fact that Michael had to endure such a violent and painful death is an open wound that refuses to heal.”

Elizabeth Baxter, the school’s acting head, said it had been an “honour and a privilege” to work alongside him. She called him an inspirational leader who “has left a void and a gulf at every level of our school”. The public gallery was packed as the statements were read, and members of Mr Mullins’s family were in tears when the verdict was delivered.

The case stands out for the sequence of events the jury accepted: a collision, a long drive with a man trapped underneath, a stop where he was released, and a final act of driving over him. For the judge, that conduct justified a sentence under which Richardson was jailed for life, with a quarter of a century to serve before any parole consideration.