Burglar Who Murdered Ex-Royal Navy Officer Jailed For 27 Years

A serial burglar has been handed a life sentence and told he must serve a minimum of 27 years for twice running over an ex-Royal Navy officer as his wife watched in horror.

Ryan Gibbons, 29, reversed over Mike Samwell then drove over him a second time as the former serviceman tried to stop his Audi S3 sports car being stolen.

Gibbons gave no reaction but there were gasps from his family in the public gallery and one said "You're joking", before his father shouted "Love you, son" as he was taken down to the cells at Manchester Crown Court.

Moments earlier Mr Samwell's wife Jessica had read a poignant victim impact statement to the court speaking of her "overwhelming grief" as she watched her husband die:

"The last image I have of Mike lying on the ground, groaning in pain, holding his hand will stay with me for the rest of my life.

"The man who meant more to me than anything in the world had been mindlessly and brutally killed."

The couple were woken in the dead of night as burglars broke into their £450,000 house in Chorlton, south Manchester, snatching the keys to Mr Samwell's car from the kitchen table.

Mr Samwell, a nuclear engineer after serving 12 years in the Royal Navy, dashed outside in his underwear, shouting "Get out of the car!" - but was then run over.

His wife held his hand, telling him she loved him as he lay dying from catastrophic crush injuries to his chest and heart after the burglary in April.

Passing sentence Mr Justice William Davis told Gibbons:

"He was killed in front of her eyes and died as she was holding his hand on the driveway of his own home.

"You are a dangerous young man, you are a regular burglar and on this occasion, to get what you wanted, you quite ruthlessly killed a man."

Raymond Davies, 21, of Castlefield Walk, Manchester, drove Gibbons and two other men, who have not been caught by police, to the address to steal the car.

The man, who has previous convictions for drugs offences, was jailed for eight years for manslaughter.

The court heard how Gibbons had been taking cocaine and drinking on the night Mr Samwell died.

He returned home then went to buy some cannabis but came across Davies sat in his car with two other men he refused to name.

Gibbons claimed talk turned to carrying out a burglary to steal a "nice car" to sell for £2,000 and he suggested the Samwells' house because of the Audi, worth £36,000.

He told the jury he did not see Mr Samwell or deliberately run over him, but heard "screaming" and thought, "something had gone under the wheel" before speeding off.

But jurors did not believe the defendant.

Greater Manchester Police posted on Facebook a message from Mike Samwell's parents, who said they welcome the verdict "with a mixture of sadness and relief":

"Relief that this process is over; that we no longer have to go over the excruciating final events that took Mike from us.

"Sadness for the potential that has been stolen from us; the future that we will never get to see.

"We are also saddened by the senseless waste of life that this event has wrought, not only Mike's life but the lives of all of those connected to this awful act."

They describe Mr Samwell as "one of those rare people who was loved by everyone who met him".

Detective Chief Inspector Lewis Hughes said that 'tragedy' is the only way to describe "the utter devastation this pair (Gibbons and Davies) left behind in their determination to steal from the Samwells":

"How many of us would have done the same thing in Mike’s position, protecting our home and our loved ones from people like Gibbons and Davies.

"Instead of calling for help, or turning themselves in, these men actively chose to evade police after Gibbons took Samwell’s car and left Mike fighting for his life."

Gibbons' girlfriend Stacey Hughes, 28, also of Steven Court, Chorlton, was found not guilty of assisting an offender.