A driver was seen leaning against his dented car while filling it up with petrol – shortly after allegedly crashing into a headteacher and dragging him to his death. 

Simon Richardson, 35, is accused of the murder of headteacher Michael Mullins, 56, as he pedalled home from work at Stretford Grammar School on April 20. 

He is said to have driven at speed through give way markers at a junction in Warburton, Altrincham, and into the path of Mr Mullins, who was dragged underneath his Volvo XC90 for 1.3 miles. 

Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court watched the petrol station’s CCTV yesterday, showing Richardson filling up his Volvo as he leans against the car with his hood up and stares blankly at the pump. 

He is then seen covering his face by pulling his hood down as he passes the security cameras. 

The CPS also released an image of Richardson allegedly seen driving the Volvo just moments after he had crashed into Mr Mullins. 

Simon Richardson was caught on CCTV filling up a tank of petrol shortly after hitting and killing headteacher Michael Mullins 

Richardson, 35, is accused of the murder of headteacher Mr Mullins (pictured), 56, as he pedalled home from work at Stretford Grammar School on April 20 

A dent in the front right side of the bonnet is visible and Richardson’s driver’s seat window also appears to be fully down. 

Prosecutors accuse Richardson of murder because they say he knew married father-of-two Mr Mullins was beneath the wheels of his vehicle but drove on anyway.

It is alleged he later travelled to a country lane in Lymm, Cheshire, and ‘veered sharply and deliberately from side to side’ before he mounted a grass verge and drove over Mr Mullins, who was finally dislodged.

Mr Mullins, from Northwich, Cheshire, was found still breathing in Wet Gate Lane – 2.2km from the collision in Paddock Lane – but was pronounced dead at the scene at 6.50pm, about 40 minutes after he was knocked off his bike. 

Jurors heard evidence from witness Andrew Besant-Roberts, who discovered Mr Mullins lying on the side of a grass verge in Lymm, Cheshire. 

He told the court: ‘I very quickly noticed a strange trail on the road. I didn’t know what it was initially, but I thought it was suspicious. As I followed the trail, it suddenly occurred to me that it was blood.’

An image of the Volvo moments after the crash showed Richardson behind the wheel, with the driver’s window fully down 

Mr Mullins, pictured with his children as a younger man, was treated by paramedics but declared dead at the roadside 40 minutes after the collision, jurors were told

He continued: ‘I noticed the trail started to weave from left to right – this continued for a couple of hundred yards.

‘Then I saw a cyclist on a grass verge who appeared to be in a position similar to the recovery position. He was laid on his side unconscious but I could see he was still breathing.’ 

Mr Besant-Roberts said he called 999 but Mr Mullins started to ‘deteriorate’, and despite carrying out chest compressions and a paramedic arriving shortly after, Mr Mullins was declared dead at the scene at 6.50pm. 

On Wednesday, Gabrielle Debotte, 27, Richardson’s cousin who was travelling in the front passenger seat of the car, told Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court how the incident left her ‘shocked’ and ‘scared’.

In the moments prior to the collision, Richardson had driven at ‘quite a speed’, she said. She added: ‘I did say he needed to slow down and he smirked and said ‘I’m a professional driver’.’

She said the Volvo had approached a junction and she shouted ‘bike’ three times because she noticed Richardson ‘wasn’t stopping’.

Alleged murderer Richardson was caught on camera overtaking a car before he is said to have hit Mr Mullins and dragged him under his vehicle. Footage of the moments before the crash were previously released

On Tuesday, jurors watched dashcam footage of a police pursuit of the defendant driving a silver Ford Transit van in Failsworth, Greater Manchester, on April 21 

Richardson failed to slow down, she said, before crashing into Mr Mullins’ bike, whom she knew had gone underneath the vehicle because he ‘wasn’t in the road’.

Ms Debotte said Richardson had only stopped for a ‘split second’ before driving off and she’d told him to get out because ‘it was the right thing to do’.

She said Richardson drove off in an ‘erratic’ manner with the driver’s window down, swerving the car side to side because he could hear noises from underneath the Volvo.

When she heard the ‘moaning’ sounds, she said she told him: ‘He’s under the car.’

Ms Debotte said she also told Richardson to stop the car but he said nothing and drove on.

Jurors also heard evidence from a consultant in emergency medicine, Dr Terrence McGloughlin, on Wednesday, who was asked if Michael would have survived the initial impact of the collision. 

 Richardson fled police during a pursuit the following day (pictured)

Dr McGloughlin told the court: ‘My understanding from the evidence is that he survived the initial impact.’

The court also heard about evidence from an Apple watch worn by Mr Mullins, which showed that his heart was still recorded at the moment that he was released by the car. 

Dr McGloughlin said the Apple watch evidence ‘supports that he was still physiologically alive’, but said he was ‘unable to say’ whether Mr Mullins was unconscious or conscious while being dragged beneath the car. 

The jury previously heard how Richardson did stop in a nearby country lane for around 90 seconds and attempted in vain to pull Mr Mullins free.

He then got back in the driver’s seat and drove on again before ‘veering’ the car side to side and mounting a grass verge near a farm, where Mr Mullins was finally dislodged.

Ms Debotte described Richardson ‘struggling’ to free the headteacher as she watched from inside the Volvo, which included moving the car’s steering wheel.

Asked by Phil Barnes KC, prosecuting, how she felt at the time, she replied: ‘Shocked, scared. I’ve never seen anything like that in my life.’

‘I still have visions of it.’

She realised Mr Mullins had eventually been freed from underneath the Volvo when she saw him lying in the road.

‘From what I can remember, he was just lying there and his arm was moving slightly,’ she told the jury.

Ms Debotte said she was ‘screaming’ and ‘crying’ while Richardson was also ‘crying’ and ‘panicking’.

The pair then drove to a petrol station, where footage caught Richardson filling up his tank with his hood up, dressed in black. 

They then collected some weight loss medication for Ms Debotte and she admitted failing to dial 999 because she had ‘never been’ in a situation like that and was in ‘shock’.

Later, Richardson swapped his Volvo for a silver van and he and a friend Daniel Richards went to her home to ‘concoct’ a story, it’s claimed.

Ms Debotte claimed Richards attempted to persuade her to ‘tell lies’ about being with Richardson in the Volvo but she’d realised that ‘would be worse’.

When she asked Richardson and Richards to leave her home, she said, Richardson became ‘really angry’ and punched a hole in a wall.

In the hours after the collision while Richardson and Richards were at Ms Debotte’s home, she had heard them ‘laughing and joking’ downstairs while she struggled to sleep upstairs.

‘They were drinking dad’s alcohol, playing music and treating the house like it was theirs,’ she said.

The jury previously heard how Ms Debotte ‘broke down’ at the nursery where she worked the next day and told them what happened before going to police. 

On Tuesday, jurors also watched dashcam footage of a police pursuit of the defendant driving a silver Ford Transit van in Failsworth, Greater Manchester, on April 21 – the day after the crash.

The van had been followed to William Street, where it briefly stopped and then sped off as officers approached. 

Further footage released by the CPS showed Richardson leap out of his vehicle and attempt to make off on foot as officers pursued him.  

In a statement read to the court PC Gerard Elliott said he heard ‘tyres squealing’ as the van took off and turned left into an alleyway and on to Oldham Road.

A pursuit followed in densely populated residential streets as PC Elliott said he reached speeds of 50mph but was ‘not gaining on the Transit van’.

The van came to a stop in nearby Co-operation Street due to another vehicle blocking its path, said the officer, and the suspect leapt out of the van and ran off before he was apprehended shortly after, the court heard.

Another officer involved in the pursuit, Inspector Tom Abbott, told the court: ‘The [van] driver showed no consideration for the safety of other drivers and pedestrians.’

Cross-examining Ms Debotte, Jamie Hamilton KC suggested it was ‘not true’ that she’d repeatedly shouted a ‘bike’ warning as Mr Mullins approached on his cycle.

‘Oh, I did yes,’ she replied.

She described how she felt the Volvo ‘jolt’ during the collision and insisted that Richardson had been aware Mr Mullins was under the car.

But Mr Hamilton said she had never mentioned in statements to police that Richardson had known that, and she had only said it in her evidence to the court.

Last week, jurors saw CCTV footage of Richardson allegedly driving ‘erratically’ in the moments before the fatal collision.

His Volvo was said to be ‘absolutely tanking it’ by a witness before he overtook cars on the approach to the junction of Dunham Road and Paddock Lane, the court heard.

Richardson denies murder and an alternative count of manslaughter.

He has also pleaded not guilty to an offence of dangerous driving.

The trial continues.