Man killed ex-girlfriend after ‘yanking’ on Audi’s handbrake as she drove on M62
Victoria Bell died aged 34 after her former partner Gary Toomey had a ‘feeling in his gut’ and ‘yanked’ on the handbrake of her Audi
Gary Toomey(Image: Merseyside Police)
A man killed his ex-girlfriend by “yanking” on the handbrake of her Audi as she drove on the motorway after a “feeling in his gut just exploded.” Victoria Bell died aged 34 after her vehicle crashed into the central reservation of the M62, being struck by another car as she attempted to flee to safety on the hard shoulder.
It came after she and her “on off” partner Gary Toomey had rowed while attending a music festival. The 37-year-old claims that his fatal actions were a “spontaneous reaction to stop the car in order to get away from the ongoing argument” and says he “was not intending to cause any harm”.
Liverpool Crown Court[1] heard this afternoon, Thursday, that Ms Bell had been driving her Audi A3 eastbound on the M62 between junction seven of the motorway at Rainhill[2] and junction eight at Burtonwood, Warrington[3], at around 11.30pm on September 24 2021 when her front seat passenger pulled on the handbrake and caused the vehicle to crash into the central reservation. Although Toomey was able to get out of the vehicle and “make his way to safety” on a grass verge at the side of the motorway, she was struck by another vehicle as she attempted to cross the carriageway.
Robert Dudley, prosecuting, said: “She was struck by another vehicle which was travelling perfectly properly along the motorway, it not having the opportunity to avoid the collision. She was killed almost instantaneously.”
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The court was told that Ms Bell lived with her mum in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, and had been in a relationship with Toomey since the beginning of 2021, having “met through the music scene” and “having similar tastes”. The truck driver moved in with his partner and her mum in February that year and thereafter stayed at the address for several months.
But there followed a series of “incidents” between the couple – including one during a weekend away in Blackpool, after which Ms Bell returned home with a black eye and bruising on her arms. Mr Dudley continued: “There were concerns that the defendant had a short temper and was easy to anger.
“There was discussion about whether he needed help to manage this anger. Victoria’s friends describe that the relationship started to go downhill after six to eight weeks.”
The difficulties in their relationship led to Toomey moving out again in July 2021, after which he sent an email to the directors of the company for which Ms Bell worked “alleging that she was using drugs”. However, he then subsequently contacted her bosses again and said he “had made it up after a breakup”.
But they “continued to see each other and did go out together from time to time”, going through “cycles of splitting up and getting back together again”. Toomey, of Hollin Hey Road in Bolton, was also said to have “turned up to watch” when Ms Bell was playing rugby on occasions.
On the day of the collision, they were said to have attended a music festival in Liverpool after the victim had driven them to Merseyside in a car she had only owned for a week. The crash occurred on a section of the motorway near to the Dream sculpture in St Helens[7], with one witness seeing the vehicle travelling at “80mph plus” but subsequently regaining sight of the Audi while it was “travelling much slower in the second lane”.
But Ms Bell’s Audi then “all of a sudden pulled violently with smoke coming from the tyres, as if it was braking”. Mr Dudley said: “That was because the defendant had applied the handbrake from the passenger seat.
“That caused the Audi to spin clockwise and to come to a stop with the front bumper in the central reservation barrier and the car perpendicular to the traffic. That left the passenger door away from the traffic and the driver’s door in the path of the oncoming vehicles in the outside lane.
“It is apparent that Victoria had opened the driver’s door and got out of the Audi. But she didn’t have the chance to get far.”
The unnamed driver of a Mercedes GLS car which was also “intending to go on to Yorkshire” later recalled: “All of a sudden, I saw a black shape of a car ahead of me in the outside lane. The car was facing the central barrier. It had no lights on and there were no streetlights on that part of the road, so it was really hard to see it until the last moment.”
This motorist was said to have had “insufficient time and distance to react and avoid the collision”, with the occupants of this second vehicle hearing Toomey “screaming” in the aftermath. He had “made his way onto the grass verge” beside the M62 by this stage, but then “came back onto the motorway shouting a female’s name”.
Another driver who stopped at the scene meanwhile detailed how the defendant had “said that he was having an argument, that he had pulled the handbrake and that when the car stopped he had jumped out and run across the motorway, leaving his ex-girlfriend in the car”. Under interview following his arrest, Toomey told detectives that he had not taken his medication for depression and anxiety on the day of the incident.
He further outlined how he and Ms Bell had “got together on New Year’s Eve” and said that “things were great until his depression took over”, describing a “downhill spiral which included him headbutting her in Blackpool after an argument about a man at her work telling her that she was pretty”. The killer said that they had arrived at the Baltic Hotel, where his ex’s friend was DJing, at around 7.30pm that evening and stayed until roughly 10.45pm, having “argued on the way”.
Toomey said that his former girlfriend had consumed a tequila shot, a glass of Prosecco and a rum slush during the course of the evening – with Ms Bell subsequently being found to be “marginally over the blood alcohol limit for driving”. He had meanwhile consumed two-and-a-half pints before setting off for Liverpool before downing shots of tequila, more beer Jack Daniels and sambuca at the event.
When it was put to him that he had told paramedics at the scene that “she was telling him that once she dropped him off he was never going to see or speak to her again” during a further row, he stated that he “had this feeling in his gut and it just exploded, so he pulled the handbrake”. Toomey said this had “caused the car to go sideways and hit the central reservation, where she was crying and screaming at him to get out”.
He added: “I jumped out, nearly got hit by a truck and just ran for the hard shoulder. I turned around to come back for Vicky, that’s when the collision happened.”
Toomey has previous convictions for battery in 2008 and inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent in 2009. David James, defending, told the court: “There was a turbulent relationship.
“He does describe a spontaneous act when he pulled on the handbrake, a decision designed to slow the car so that he could get out and not a decision designed to cause harm. But, of course, the risk of harm is clearly accepted from that act.
“He was not intending to cause harm. Pulling the handbrake will not necessarily or inevitably stop a vehicle or result in a total loss of control of the vehicle or result in a collision with another vehicle or structure.
“His mental health decline did contribute to the relationship failing and may well have been the reason why there was fighting and disharmony between the two. His remorse and his sorrow is genuine.
“Many at these courts will have very little regard to the effect of their criminal acts. He does wish to publicly apologise for his behaviour.
“At the scene, he was clearly severely distressed. He was described as hysterical. He was saying at the time that it should have been him and not Ms Bell.
“That view still burdens him. He understands that he will receive the punishment of a significant prison sentence. The psychological punishment, knowing that it should have been him and not Ms Bell, is a punishment that is unlikely to ever leave him.
“This was a man who, for a number of reasons, was having difficulties at the time, and these are likely to have had an impact on why he acted in such a way. There was no premeditation here.
“It was a spontaneous reaction to stop the car in order to get away from the ongoing argument. It was not intended or designed to cause any harm. References describe a predominantly loyal and hard working man.”
Toomey admitted manslaughter. He was jailed for seven years and four months, a term of which he must serve at least two thirds behind bars.
Sentencing, the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC said: “It seems that the relationship was turbulent, described as an on off relationship. It is clear that her friends and mother did not necessarily think that you were good for her. There had been concerns about your temper and whether you were easy to anger.
“On that fateful day, you and her met up and went to a music festival. You drank a significant quantity of alcohol and were significantly under the influence of alcohol.
“As she was driving along the M62, heading home, an argument which had been developing for some time rekindled apace. Whatever the cause, you at some point behaved in temper in a which led directly to her death.
“You, in temper, quite deliberately yanked on the handbrake of the car. You are an experienced motorist. You know exactly the risks involved in doing such a thing.
“It is not at all surprising that the car then spun out of control. As Vicky was trying to escape, a following car collided directly with her – causing most catastrophic injuries.
“It is clear that your actions have caused enormous damage to the lives of so many people. It is clear that Vicky was a loved, cherished and valued member of her family who had a wide circle of friends and who was valued not only for her friendship but her abilities at work.
“It is clear that she will forever be sadly missed. Their lives have been damaged irreparably by your selfish and reckless act, not just by their loss but by the knowledge of the senselessness of these horrific events.
“I accept that you now deeply regret what you have done, but that will offer very little comfort to her family. It is clear that people speak about your positive qualities in normal circumstances and it is clear that you are capable of living a decent life and behaving well, but it is clear that you are also someone who has struggled with your mental health for some time.
“While the impact on you of this offending and the knowledge of what you have done cannot in any way compare to the pain and suffering of her friends and family, I accept that you will have to live with the knowledge of what you did that night and the consequences of it. There is, frankly, no sentence I can pass that will begin to equate in and real sense with the loss that has been suffered.
“However tempting, no one should seek to perform such an exercise. The reality is that there is nothing the court can do or say that will alleviate the immeasurable suffering spoken of so movingly.
“Some will think that any sentence is inadequate. But my task is to ensure that the sentence I pass is just, proportionate and consistent with the law and sentencing guidelines and reflecting all of the circumstances of this very sad and tragic case.”
Toomey will also be disqualified for two years upon his release from prison. Detective Sergeant Kurt Timpson, lead investigating officer from Merseyside Police’s serious collision investigation unit, said following today’s sentencing: “Our thoughts remain very much with Victoria’s family and her close friends. It has been a complex and prolonged investigation and a very difficult period of time for them as their lives have been changed forever by this incident.
“I welcome the sentence today, and I would like to thank members of the public who helped at the scene that evening. Toomey has destroyed a close family relationship by his shocking behaviour that night.
“Any person travelling at speed in a moving vehicle on a motorway would instinctively know that to pull a handbrake would be highly likely to cause very serious injury or death to them and other road users. It is simply beyond belief.
“Road death is sudden and traumatic and causes unimaginable harm to people who become involved. This case was caused by the unlawful act of a passenger in his former partner’s vehicle and should never had happened.
“As Toomey begins his sentence today, Victoria’s family and close friendship group have to try and rebuild their own lives caused by his reckless behaviour. I thank them for their patience and the dignified way they responded throughout this investigation. The sentence issued at Liverpool Crown Court today shows that the courts will deal robustly with offenders and acts as a stark message to anyone whose selfish and reckless actions end in such tragedy.”
References
- ^ Liverpool Crown Court (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
- ^ Rainhill (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
- ^ Warrington (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
- ^ First picture of teenager accused of Southport mass stabbing (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
- ^ Live updates as Southport stabbing suspect named in court (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
- ^ More info (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
- ^ St Helens (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)