Simon Richardson

Introduction

Simon Richardson is a 35-year-old man of no fixed address who was jailed for life with a minimum term of 25 years for the murder of Michael Mullins, the much-loved head teacher of Stretford Grammar School, whom Richardson struck while driving through give-way markings in Warburton, Greater Manchester, on April 20, 2026 and then dragged trapped beneath his Volvo XC90 for more than a mile. Mullins, 56, a married father of two who had led the school for 17 years, was cycling the 19 miles home to Northwich, Cheshire when the collision happened on Paddock Lane. A jury at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court convicted Richardson of murder on October 30, 2026 after a two-week trial, and Mrs Justice Brunner KC sentenced him on November 2, 2026, also imposing a lifetime driving disqualification and a concurrent 18-month term for dangerous driving during the police pursuit the following day.

Background Information

Richardson had previous convictions for 28 offences, with what prosecutors called a significant history of driving-related crimes: careless driving and failure to stop or report an accident in 2011, driving with excess alcohol and while disqualified in 2012, driving while disqualified and uninsured in 2013, and driving without a licence or insurance in 2023. At the time of the fatal collision he was on bail for offences including affray and assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and less than a month earlier had received a community order for assaulting an emergency worker. The trial heard that after striking Mullins, who fell onto the bonnet and windscreen and became entangled in the suspension of the vehicle, Richardson drove to a secluded farm track on Wet Gate Lane in Lymm, 1.3 miles from the collision, where he twice got out and tried to pull Mullins free before veering sharply from side to side and mounting a grass verge, finally dislodging him and then reversing over him.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Convicted and sentenced. Richardson was convicted of murdering Michael Mullins at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on October 30, 2026 and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 25 years on November 2, 2026.

The prosecution case was that Richardson was aware the trapped cyclist was inches below his feet: his cousin and front-seat passenger Gabrielle Debotte told the trial that both of them heard moaning as he drove away from the scene. A motorcyclist later followed a trail of blood from Paddock Lane and discovered Mullins lying alone and barely breathing on the grass verge; he died from multiple injuries. Debotte refused to give the false account she had been pressured to write on her phone that evening and went to police the next morning, with her evidence helping to convict her cousin. The next day Richardson led police on a pursuit through residential streets at more than 50mph in a 30mph zone before being arrested when his path was blocked. Sentencing, Mrs Justice Brunner said Richardson had shown an “astonishing disregard for human life,” that he had knowingly dragged for four and a half minutes a man he believed was conscious, and that “you decided that escaping from the scene of an accident was more important than a human life.” She told him: “You deliberately used your car as a weapon over a prolonged period… This demonstrates the complete contempt you have for the law,” and rejected his claim of remorse. The minimum term of 25 years was reduced by the 192 days he had spent in custody.

Public Reaction and Consequences

Victim statements painted the picture of a community figure whose death devastated his school. Mullins’s wife of 27 years, Sarah, said her husband had been her “safety net” and that her life had been “brutally and callously torn apart,” her “present… empty and often seems to be without purpose.” Elizabeth Baxter, the acting head teacher of Stretford Grammar School, said working alongside him had been “an honour and a privilege” and that “he has left a void and a gulf at every level of our school.” His family remembered him as their “anchor,” a grandfather who “truly excelled” in that role and cycled regularly between school and home. Detective Chief Inspector Louise Edwards of Greater Manchester Police said Richardson had chosen to “take Michael’s life in one of the most horrific ways I have ever seen.” In mitigation, defence barrister Jaime Hamilton KC said the absence of premeditation was a significant feature and that Richardson had not intended to use his vehicle as a weapon, while accepting his actions led to the death.

Current Status

Richardson, 35, is serving a life sentence and cannot be considered for release until he has served at least 25 years, reduced by 192 days already spent in custody, alongside a lifetime ban from driving that the judge imposed to protect the public from what she called an “appalling” driving record. The concurrent 18-month sentence covers the dangerous driving during the April 21 pursuit. The trial established, and the sentencing remarks record, that the murder was committed in the service of escaping the consequences of a collision, not in its inception, which is why the judge set a 15-year starting point rather than 30 while finding the offence required the life sentence with a substantial minimum term.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Richardson’s criminal career, already spanning fifteen years of driving offences, bail for violence and a community order imposed weeks before the killing, ended with a life sentence and the loss of his driving licence for life, the two consequences the judge tied directly to his record of contempt for the law on the roads. For Stretford Grammar School, the loss of a head teacher of 17 years was marked in court as an institutional void, and for Mullins’s family the trial and sentencing put on the public record the full sequence of the night, including the passenger’s refusal to repeat the false account she had been pressured to write. The case stands as one of the most serious driving-related murder convictions in Greater Manchester in recent years.

Sources

BBC News, “Driver who dragged head teacher to his death jailed,” November 2026. source
BBC News, “Killer’s string of driving offences before dragging cyclist to death,” November 2026. source
The Guardian, “Driver who dragged cyclist under his car jailed for life for murder,” November 2026. source
Judiciary of England and Wales, “R v Simon Richardson Sentencing Remarks,” November 2026. source