A man has been convicted of the murder of two young men after driving his black pickup truck the wrong way down a motorway slip road and colliding with an e-bike carrying the victims. Alex Rose struck William Birchard and Darren George as they were riding home from a pub on a single electric bike in the early hours of July 22 the previous year, according to prosecutors at Guildford Crown Court. The incident took place on the M3/A316 slip road in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey.
The prosecution alleged that Rose, 30, intentionally crashed into the back of the e-bike, causing Mr. Birchard and Mr. George to fall off, before executing a three-point turn on the motorway and driving back up the slip road, passing by the injured victims lying on the road.
Prosecutors claimed that Rose believed he saw individuals attempting to break into his residence when he contacted Mr. Birchard and Mr. George for assistance. Rose, along with his friends Charles Pardoe and Samuel Aspden, drove around the neighborhood in search of the suspected burglars.
Pardoe and Aspden were also charged with the murder of Mr. Birchard and Mr. George, with the prosecution contending that they collaborated with Rose in perpetrating the crimes. The collision was described as a “violent retaliation” by prosecutors, who asserted that Pardoe and Aspden intended to harm the victims while assisting Rose in pursuing them.
Following the tragic incident, Mr. Birchard sustained fatal head injuries and fractures, while Mr. George suffered severe head trauma and later passed away in the hospital. Neither of the victims was wearing a helmet at the time of the incident.
Rose and his girlfriend, Tara Knaggs, were subsequently arrested for their involvement in the events. Knaggs was alleged to have assisted Rose in attempting to evade authorities by arranging accommodation and flights for him to leave the country.
After a trial at Guildford Crown Court, Rose and Pardoe were found guilty of murder by a majority verdict, while Knaggs was unanimously convicted of aiding an offender. Aspden, the fourth defendant, was acquitted of both murder charges.
Mary Walford, senior crown prosecutor at CPS South East, emphasized that the tragic deaths of the two men resulted from a mistaken belief held by Alex Rose, and the defendants’ actions were not accidental but intentional. Walford condemned Rose for using his vehicle as a weapon and Pardoe for not preventing the murders and actively supporting Rose throughout the pursuit.
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