Great Ayton woman convicted of assisting offender as boyfriend guilty of double murder

Two people have been found guilty of murdering two young men as they were riding an e-bike, after they had been wrongly mistaken as burglars trying to enter one of the offender's homes. Landscape gardener Alex Rose, 30, ploughed his black pick-up truck into William Birchard, 21, and Darren George, 22, while driving the wrong way down a motorway slip road in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, in the early hours of July 22 last year. He and his friend Charles Pardoe, 25, had pursued the bike riders at speeds in excess of 60mph after Rose had suspected they were trying to burgle him when he saw "movement in the darkness at the rear of his house" in Manor Gardens, Sunbury, earlier in the evening.

Throughout the pursuit, Rose had been on the phone to his girlfriend Tara Knaggs, 25, who was at the defendant's home. A jury found Rose and Pardoe guilty of two counts of murder by a majority verdict at Guildford Crown Court on Wednesday following their trial, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said. Knaggs, from Great Ayton[1], was unanimously found guilty by the same jury of assisting an offender.

A fourth defendant, 25-year-old Samuel Aspden - who was another of Rose's friends who had driven around the area in his own car the same evening, was found not guilty of both murder charges, the CPS said.

Jurors heard during the trial that neither Mr Birchard nor Mr George were "anywhere near" Rose's home when he first suspected he had seen burglars, and had been on their way to the pub in Ashford at that time. After encountering Rose and Pardoe at around 12.50am, the victims drove their e-bike the wrong way round the roundabout and the wrong way down the M3/A316 slip road in an attempt get away. Rose followed the e-bike down the slip road in his pick-up truck before driving the vehicle into the back of it, before making a three-point turn and driving away, past the pair lying on the tarmac.

The victims were discovered in the road by a lorry driver. Mr Birchard died at the scene having suffered fatal head injuries, fractures to his face and skull and a severe brain injury, while Mr George died later the same day in hospital. Neither man had been wearing a helmet.

Rose and Knaggs were arrested at Birmingham Airport on the afternoon of July 22 last year, while Aspden and Pardoe were arrested two days later. Mary Walford, senior crown prosecutor at CPS South East, said: "Two men lost their lives as a result of Alex Rose wrongly believing that they were going to break into his property. This was a tragic case of the two victims simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Despite the defendants claiming that what happened that night was an accident, it was clear from the evidence that it was not. Rose used his car as a weapon and drove it deliberately at the e-bike in the mistaken belief that they had tried to steal from him, after systemically searching for them for an hour, before pursuing them at high speed. "Pardoe did nothing to stop him committing murder and actively encouraged Rose in his search until its tragic conclusion."

The defendants will be sentenced at the same court a later date. For the latest Teesside news direct to your inbox every day, sign up to our free newsletter[2]

Join Teesside Live's WhatsApp community for top stories and breaking news sent directly to your phone

Teesside Live is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community. Through the app, we'll send you the latest breaking news, top stories, exclusives and much more straight to your phone.

To join our community group, you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select 'Join Community'[3]. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Teesside Live[4] team.

We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'Exit group'.

If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice[5].

Click here to join our WhatsApp community[6].

References

1. ^ Great Ayton (www.gazettelive.co.uk)
2. ^ For the latest Teesside news direct to your inbox every day, sign up to our free newsletter (www.gazettelive.co.uk)
3. ^ click this link and select 'Join Community' (chat.whatsapp.com)
4. ^ Teesside Live (www.gazettelive.co.uk)
5. ^ can read our Privacy Notice (www.reachplc.com)
6. ^ Click here to join our WhatsApp community (chat.whatsapp.com)