Witness denies 'lying to protect herself' after head teacher dragged to death

The passenger in a car driven by her cousin which dragged a head teacher more than a mile to his death denied "not telling the truth" to "protect" herself.

Gabrielle Debotte, 27, had told a jury that driver Simon Richardson knew 56-year-old cyclist Michael Mullins was under the wheels of his car after colliding with him at a junction on 20 April.

Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court has heard Richardson drove on for 1.36 miles (2.2km) until father-of-two Mr Mullins was finally thrown free on a country lane in Lymm, Cheshire, where he died a short time later.

Richardson, 35, denies he knew Mr Mullins was under the wheels and has pleaded not guilty to murder and an alternative count of manslaughter.

A jury has heard Mr Mullins, who was cycling to his home in Northwich from Stretford Grammar School, died from injuries the prosecution claim were caused by "dragging and crushing" rather than the impact of the collision itself.

On Wednesday Debotte said a short time after Richardson accelerated away from the crash site, on Paddock Lane in Warburton, Trafford, they heard the sounds of "moaning" coming from under the vehicle.

She told the jury her "panicking" cousin then wound his window down and said "he's under the car".

She also said the car stopped on Wet Gate Lane in Lymm where Richardson got out of the vehicle and attempted to physically pull Mr Mullins from where he was trapped under the wheels - before continuing to drive when he failed.

Jaime Hamilton KC, defending Richardson, continued cross-examining Debotte earlier and suggested she had given an "emerging" and "changing" account of what happened.

He highlighted CCTV footage from before the collision suggesting the window had already been down and that she had "added that detail".

Debotte said she believed he had wound the window down after the collision.

"I suggest to you there was a lot going on inside that car," Hamilton said.

"Crying from you, screaming from you, shouting from you, music still playing, is that right?"

Debotte said she agreed.

Hamilton said: "Whether you heard moaning or not, nothing was discussed about anything trapped under the car between the collision and the turn into [Wet Gate Lane]?"

She replied: "After the collision, that was when he said 'he's under the car'."

Hamilton suggested that Richardson had not got out of the car on Wet Gate Lane at all, and instead asked whether he had stopped to try to "calm her down".

Debotte said she disagreed.

The jury had heard that after the collision the car went on to Lymm Service Station where Richardson used Debotte's bank card to pay for petrol.

Hamilton asked for CCTV to be played which showed her sitting in the passenger seat of the car, appearing to retrieve an item from her handbag and pass it to Richardson.

"If you provide him with your card at the petrol station you're helping him get away with it aren't you?" he said.

Debotte disagreed.

The jury had heard the day after the crash Debotte went to her workplace, a children's nursery in Altrincham, where she "broke down" and asked a manager to call the police.

Her colleague took her to the police station where she was initially arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving but later told she was no longer under investigation and treated as a witness.

Hamilton said: "I am going to suggest you have not told the truth about certain aspects about things that happened that day, I am suggesting in fact what you have been doing is always trying to look after yourself. Always trying to protect yourself."

He highlighted that in her initial account to police she did not mention providing her bank card to Richardson, or that she had remained in contact with his friend Daniel Richards during the night into the early hours of 21 April.

Hamilton suggested she had tried to "make it progressively worse" for Simon Richardson.

Debotte replied: "I am telling the truth."

Prosecution counsel Phil Barnes KC, re-examining the witness, asked her to confirm that when she made her first witness statement after midnight on 22 April, she had not slept at all since the night before the collision two days earlier.

He suggested that as well as being cousins, before the collision Debotte and Richardson were on "very friendly terms" and "close".

Barnes said: "It has been suggested you have come here to lie, to say all of these things about a man that you were close to.

"Do you have any reason to lie about Simon Richardson?"

"Absolutely not," Debotte replied.

The trial continues.

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