A driver who hit a much-loved headteacher as he cycled home from school, then kept going with the injured man trapped beneath his car, has been found guilty of murder in a case prosecutors say is among the first of its kind in England.
Simon Richardson, 35, was convicted at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on Friday 30 October after a jury deliberated for around a day and a half. He was also found guilty of dangerous driving over a police chase the following day, The Telegraph reported. He had denied murder.
The victim, Michael Mullins, 56, was headteacher of Stretford Grammar School in Trafford and a father of two. His family wept in the public gallery as the verdict was delivered, according to The Telegraph.
What the jury heard
Shortly after 6pm on 20 April, Mr Mullins was cycling home from work when Richardson’s Volvo XC90 went through give-way markings at a junction in the Warburton area near Altrincham and struck him. Mr Mullins was pulled underneath the car and became caught in it.
Instead of stopping to get help, Richardson drove on, the court heard. The Crown Prosecution Service said he was at times travelling at twice the speed limit. Prosecutors said he headed for a quiet farm track near Lymm in Cheshire, leaving a trail of blood along the road, more than two kilometres (about 1.3 miles) from where the collision happened.
Richardson’s cousin, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, gave evidence that she heard moaning from outside the car and that Richardson told her: “He’s under the car.” Prosecutors said he got out and tried to pull Mr Mullins free, and when that failed, he swerved the car from side to side until the headteacher came loose on a grass verge. He then drove away.
A motorcyclist followed the trail of blood and found Mr Mullins, who was barely breathing. Despite the efforts of emergency services, he died at the roadside. A post-mortem examination found that he died from injuries caused by being dragged, rather than by the initial impact, the CPS said.
Richardson was arrested the next day in Failsworth, Oldham, after a police pursuit. The CPS said he had swapped his car for a friend’s van and tried to agree a false story with his passenger and the van’s owner. He gave no comment when interviewed by police.
In his defence, Richardson told the court he did not realise Mr Mullins was underneath the car. Prosecutor Phil Barnes KC told jurors he had briefly considered stopping to help but chose to drive away to escape the consequences.
Why this was murder, not dangerous driving
Most fatal collisions are prosecuted as causing death by dangerous or careless driving. To secure a murder conviction, the CPS had to prove that Richardson intended to kill Mr Mullins or to cause him really serious harm.
Rebecca Macaulay-Addison, a specialist prosecutor with CPS North West, said the decision to keep driving, knowing that death or really serious injury was virtually foreseeable, was why prosecutors pursued a murder charge. She said Mr Mullins ought to still be with his family and that her thoughts were with his relatives, the school community and his pupils. The CPS described the case as one of the first murder convictions to arise from a road traffic collision.
A school community in mourning
In a statement reported by The Telegraph, Mr Mullins’s family said he was devoted to them and that their lives would never be the same. They said his death had left a gap in their hearts and at Stretford Grammar School.
What happens next
Richardson is due to be sentenced at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on Monday 2 November. Murder carries a mandatory life sentence in England and Wales, and the judge will set the minimum term he must serve before he can be considered for parole. The family may give victim personal statements to the court. We will report the sentence when it is handed down.
Sources
- Crown Prosecution Service: Driver guilty of murder after striking local headteacher on a bicycle and dragging him beneath the car (30 October 2026)
- ITV News Granada: Man found guilty of murder after headteacher knocked off bike and dragged to his death (30 October 2026)
- The Telegraph via Yahoo News: Driver who dragged headteacher under car for a mile guilty of murder (30 October 2026)
Featured image: Manchester Crown Court (Crown Square) (1) by Rept0n1x, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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