Ex-Royal Navy Officer Run Over Trying To Stop Car Thieves

A sobbing widow told a jury she clutched her husband's hand, telling him she loved him, as he lay dying after being run over by car thieves.

Ex-Royal Navy officer Mike Samwell, 35, had been sleeping next to his wife Jessica, when he was woken by a break-in at their home, Manchester Crown Court heard.

She roused him and he dashed downstairs in just his underwear to discover burglars had broken in through the kitchen patio doors and someone was in his Audi S3 sports car outside his house on Cranbourne Road in Chorlton, south Manchester.

But when Mr Samwell, who served 12 years in the forces, went out to confront them, shouting: "Get out of the car! Get out of the car now!".

Seconds later he lay dying, having been run over twice by Ryan Gibbons, 29, who denies murder.

Mrs Samwell broke down in tears as she gave evidence from behind a screen in the witness box at the trial.

When she followed her husband outside, he was on the floor under the wheels of his car, resting on his chest. The car then rolled off him as it reversed leaving him between both sets of wheels. It ran over him again and sped off.

In a police video interview played to the court, Mrs Samwell said:

"When I got to him he had tyre marks across his chest.

"There was blood coming out of the back of his head. He was making an awful noise.

"I was ringing the police and trying to talk to the police.

"I was shouting, 'Help! Help! Somebody help me!'

"I was just telling him that I loved him and holding his hand."

He had suffered 39 separate external injuries, with "catastrophic" damage to his chest and heart which proved fatal.

Gibbons, from Steven Court, Chorlton, admits burglary and aggravated vehicle taking without consent but denies murder and manslaughter.

Co-accused Raymond Davies, 21, of Castlefield Walk, Manchester, also admitted a count of burglary but denies manslaughter and aggravated vehicle taking without consent.

It is alleged he earlier cased the address to plan the car theft and drove Gibbons to the house in a BMW.

Two other men, who have not been identified, were also allegedly part of the four-strong gang who planned the botched burglary and theft.

Gibbons' ex-partner Stacey Hughes, 28, of Steven Court, Chorlton, denies assisting an offender by allegedly lying to police after the incident and booking a hotel room for him in a false name.

Alistair Webster QC, opening the case for the prosecution, told the jury it was inconceivable that Gibbons, as he claims, was not aware he had driven over Mr Samwell and only felt a "bump" when he drove away.

The case continues.