A driver just dragged a headteacher for over a mile and got convicted of murder

Simon Richardson has just been found guilty of murdering a cyclist.

He dragged him for 1.3 miles, trapped beneath his car.

A jury at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court delivered the verdict about a day ago. It was around 11.45am.

Simon Richardson is 35. His victim was Michael Mullins, 56. Michael Mullins was the headteacher of Stretford Grammar School.

So what happened?

About six months ago, in the early evening, Michael Mullins was cycling home from work. Simon Richardson drove through give-way markers at a junction. He hit Michael Mullins with his Volvo XC90.

Michael Mullins fell onto the bonnet and the windscreen. Then he went under the car.

And here is the part that turned this into a murder case.

Simon Richardson did not stop. He drove on, for 1.3 miles, with Michael Mullins trapped beneath the car. Inches from his own feet.

His cousin, Gabrielle Debotte, was in the front seat. She told the trial they both heard moaning coming from outside the car. She said Simon Richardson told her quote "He's under the car".

That's the passenger's own evidence. The driver knew exactly what was happening beneath him.

So why does that matter so much?

Well, Phil Barnes KC, the prosecutor, told the jury quote "he inevitably knew what the consequences of driving on would be".

That's the Crown saying this was not a panicked mistake. It was a choice. Made again and again, over more than a mile.

Simon Richardson eventually stopped, at a secluded farm track on Wet Gate Lane. Prosecutors say he tried twice to pull Michael Mullins free.

But then, prosecutors say, he swerved onto a grass verge. And reversed over Michael Mullins. Then he drove away and left him there.

A motorcyclist later followed a trail of blood from nearby Paddock Lane. He found Michael Mullins alone on a grass verge, barely breathing.