The high speed crash that killed Gorton’s ‘Mr Ibiza’ and set off a chain of misery and chaos
It was the height of the pandemic, when the nation had been ordered to stay at home to help prevent the spread of Covid.
Yet on Thursday April 9, 2020, scores of people defied lockdown restrictions and began gathering outside the big Tesco store on Hyde Road in Gorton. It demonstrated the raw emotion that was reverberating through the area, after the death of one of its most recognisable figures, Clive Pinnock.
Less than 24 hours earlier, 38 year-old father Mr Pinnock had lost his life after a horrifying crash outside the supermarket.
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He was riding his motorbike down the A57 in the direction of Denton when at 5:15pm, at ‘high speed’ he smashed into a black BMW coming from the opposite direction and which was turning right into the Tesco car park.
The high-performance Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R 998cc bike was seen ‘flying through the air’ as Mr Pinnock was thrown from it and left stricken in the road.
And the driver behind the wheel of the BMW520d, 38 year-old Daniel Masiulis, initially got out of his car and went over to Mr Pinnock, but was then then spotted on CCTV jogging away from the scene.
He went to an off-licence where he bought a bottle of vodka and a bottle of coke before eventually ringing the police, around 25 minutes after the ultimately fatal smash. He was hyperventilating as he the told operator on the other end of the line: “I don’t know what to do, the motorbike hit my car. The motorbike was going so fast, it just hit me.”
Daniel Masiulis leaving court (Image: MEN/Facebook)
The road was closed and emergency services, including the air ambulance, raced to the crash scene. Mr Pinnock, who had suffered traumatic brain injuries as well as broken neck and pelvis, was taken to hospital but despite emergency surgery did not recover and he died shortly before 8:30pm that evening.
Dubbed ‘Mr Ibiza’, Mr Pinnock grew up on the Anson estate in Longsight. Described as a ‘big character’ and as the ‘life and soul of any party’ by friends, Mr Pinnock, who had spent time in prison following a stabbing in 2014, was a popular figure in Manchester’s clubland and on the Spanish party island from which he got his nickname.
His death created a wave of grief, and with it a somewhat febrile atmosphere in and around east Manchester, with police called to disperse a number of impromptu gatherings in his memory.
The mourners who gathered the day after his death, started leaving flowers, cards, messages, candles and teddy bears, the beginnings of what would become an enormous shrine. A wooden cross emblazoned with ‘RIP Clive’ and signed by dozens of people later appeared.
Tributes on Hyde Road (Image: MEN Media)
Weeks later police allowed hundreds more to gather on the day of his funeral, which would ultimately descend into chaos when a gunman, who was later jailed, for reasons unknown opened fire at the cemetry afterwards before being apprehended and beaten up.
Now, the events of the crash that claimed the life of a much-loved dad, son and brother and set in train this series of shocking turns has been the subject of a dramatic crown court trial.
Jurors today (July 27) found Mr Masiulis guilty of causing Mr Pinnock’s death by careless driving while over the drink-drive limit, by a majority verdict of 10-2. Mr Masiulis, of Droylsden, Tameside, had denied causing death by careless driving and causing death by careless driving while over the proscribed alcohol limit
Perhaps rather unusually for a case of this kind, the prosecution did not seek to argue that the collision was entirely Mr Masiulis’ fault.
The jury were told that Clive had shortly before the crash, CCTV footage showed he ‘pulled a wheelie’ – lifting the front wheel of his bike off the ground. Whilst witnesses suggested he may have done so two or three times.
The shrine in the heart of Gorton (Image: MEN Media)
A police crash investigator, Sergeant Adrian Pye, said he had estimated he was travelling between ‘at least’ 47mph shortly before the crash on the road which has a 30mph limit, and between 38 mph and 46 mph at the point of impact
Whilst another expert commissioned by the defence said the extent of the damage to the bike – which was destroyed – suggested he could have been going as fast as 60mph.
Opening the case, David Lees said that the prosecution conceded that Clive’s driving in the moments leading up to the crash was ‘at the very least careless’ and that ‘it is not disputed that the driving of the motorbike at high speeds contributed to the collision.’
However he said jurors were not there to pass judgement on the driving of Mr Pinnock, who isn’t here to answer questions about what happened.
“There can be, and in this case the crown says there was, more than one cause of a collision” he said.
The case was heard at Bolton Crown Court (Image: MEN Media)
Jurors were told that to convict Mr Masiulis they had to be satisfied he drove at a standard below that of a ‘careful and competent driver.’
Mr Lees said their case was that he had enough time to see Clive’s bike before he moved into its path, and that if he had been ‘paying proper attention’ he would have done and as a result would have avoided the collision.
A Royal Mail delivery driver, Greg Cooper said he had to take ‘evasive action’ as Mr Masiulis joined Hyde Road and described his driving as ‘rushed’ and ‘erratic.’
Mr Masiulis was in the right hand of the westbound lanes and the traffic lights at the Tesco car park junction were on green for him, though as he later claimed in his police interview, there is no specific filter light and the court was told those turning right had to ‘treat it as a give way’ and wait for a safe gap to do so.
Sgt Pye said using the last available CCTV footage of Mr Masiulis’ BMW, captured by a camera at the Tesco petrol station, that he was travelling at an average speed of 37mph but that this decreased to around 26mph as he approached the junction. He said he was unable to say what speed Mr Masiulis was doing at the point of impact. However he said there was no evidence he applied any emergency braking or that his indicator was on.
Police at Gorton Cemetery
He said he believed Mr Masiulius only became aware of Mr Pinnock when it was too late for him to take any action making the crash ‘inevitable.’ Prosecutors also painted Mr Masiulis’ trip to the off-licence as a ‘subterfuge’ to disguise from the fact he was over the drink-drive limit.
He rang officers from the Megasave Convenience Store on the corner of Lees Street and Compstall Grove in nearby Abbey Hey where the shopkeeper confirmed just before 5:30pm he had purchased a bottle of Coca Cola and a 35cl bottle of vodka.
When officers arrived he was sitting on the pavement with the vodka and coke bottles next to him. The vodka bottle, which was 90 percent empty, was on its side and leaking and he kicked it across the road in front of them.
Mr Lees said they believed he ‘bought the vodka because he knew he was over the limit and wanted to give himself an excuse.’
He was breath tested before being arrested and taken to Central Park police station. Before he was breathalysed there he was asked if he had drunk since the incident, and said he ‘didn’t know’ something the prosecution said was ‘significant.’ They claimed he ‘simply didn’t have the nerve at the time to lie to the face of the intoxyliser officer.’
Clive Pinnock, 38, was killed in the crash on Hyde Road, Gorton (Image: Facebook/Instagram)
As no satisfactory sample could be taken, a blood test was carried out, the result of which showed he had 129 mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in his system, the legal limit being 80.
During a search of his car an empty 100ml bottle of vodka was found under the driver’s seat with another empty 200ml bottle in the driver’s door. There were two full bottles in a bag on the back seat.
He told police interview he had drunk one bottle of Moretti beer before the incident and had ran away as he was in shock. He said had drunk half of the bottle of vodka he purchased before dialling 999.
He later told a toxicologist he had actually drunk a bottle of Budweiser at around 1:30pm and a bottle of Zubr lager at about 4pm.
If this was correct, it could account for his specimen, the court was told. Though having provided a positive sample, legally it was up to Mr Masiulis to prove, on the balance of probabilities, that he had drunk after the crash.
Giving evidence, Masiulis said he had not seen the motorbike when he made the turn but denied being distracted. He said the first he knew of the bike was when he heard ‘revving’ and the bike struck his car.
He told police in his interview that he simply didn’t see Clive’s bike, and reiterated this from the witness box.
Wearing a blue suit and tie as he sat inside the dock today, Masiulis was told he would be remanded in custody prior to his sentencing on September 12. His Honour Gilbart said: “This is overwhelmingly likely to be met by a custodial sentence. The question is the length of that sentence.”
Daniel Masiulis, left, is accused of causing the death of Clive Pinnock, right
Following Mr Pinnock’s death, his brother Orreon Pinnock posted on Facebook saying: “Words can’t express right now how I am feeling and my family – Clive tho Clive. RIP big brother, always always here till we meet again my big bro.
“I love you so much, I just can’t believe we have lost a brother, and don’t worry mum and dad and all your kids are looked after. Take care big bro, love CP brother.”
Friend Nicola told the Manchester Evening News: “Clive was an absolutely lovely guy, everyone that knew him loved him. He was the life and soul of any party and would do anything for anyone and help them if he could.” Another pal Marvin said: “I first met Clive when I was about 17. I saw him at a funeral a few weeks ago and chatted to him. He was a funny guy, a bit of a character.”
In 2015, Mr Pinnock was described as a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ character by a judge who jailed him for 11 and a half years for violent disorder and two counts of GBH after he stabbed two pub goers and tried to ‘rush the door’ of a south Manchester bar.
The stabbing, on January 24, 2014 on the outskirts of the city came after Clive Pinnock’s brother Trevor called pals for backup following a pub row with one of the victims, Manchester Crown Court was told. In a separate incident he used a metal stanchion to ram a window at Baa Bar in Fallowfield. Judge Tony Cross KC described him as having ‘taste’ and ‘liking’ for violence.
Police at the scene after Mr Pinnock’s funeral (Image: Manchester Evening News)
There were reports of ‘disorder’ during the April 9 vigil for Mr Pinnock and police officers attended and asked people to disperse.
Police held talks with Mr Pinnock’s family before his funeral on Thursday, April 23 They said they decided not to intervene and allowed hundreds of people to gather on the day ‘in the interests of public safety’ as emotions ”were high’ following the tragedy.
People lined the streets as his cortege passed. Several gatherings linked to his funeral also took place, with 300 people said to be present. At what became an ‘impromptu wake’ people who had remained at Gorton Cemetery after the funeral played music from a PA system, drank and socialised.
At around 6:45pm, a man walked into the cemetry, produced a handgun and began firing shots towards a group of men. Mourners began screaming and running away in panic.
Shouts of ‘get him’ and ‘who sent you?’ were heard as gunman, Mohammed Umar, then 24, was chased from the graveyard and attacked with a bottle and a knife before police officers arrived and intervened.
Mohammed Umar (Image: Greater Manchester Police)
No one was injured other than Umar himself, who was seriously hurt. The gun was found several days later in a park bin.
In August 2021, Umar, of Broadlea Road, Burnage was sentenced to six years and three months at Manchester Crown Court for the possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and possession of ammunition. His lawyers insisted Umar did not have a ‘gang affiliation’ and wasn’t a member of an organised crime group.
For Mr Pinnock’s family, after the devastation of loving their loved one and having to re-live it all during the trial, they will now begin the process of trying to rebuild their lives.
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