Four men convicted after killing father of two in Coventry

The victim who was from the city, suffered fatal head injuries in the attack on July 12 last year and sadly was pronounced dead in hospital three days later.

Andrew Flamson
Author: Shaunna BurnsPublished 31st May 2023

Four men have been convicted of killing a father-of-one after they drove into him, as he walked his dog with family and friends in a Coventry street.

The car was driven the wrong way up the road, through a 'no entry' sign and past cones and bollards which blocked entry to Grosvenor Road, before deliberately hitting Andrew Flamson and the three other people.

Mr Flamson, aged 40 who was from the city, suffered fatal head injuries in the attack on July 12 last year and sadly was pronounced dead in hospital three days later.

A post mortem showed he'd died from a traumatic head injury. A man in his 40s also suffered a traumatic head injury which has caused life changing injuries, while two teenagers suffered less serious injuries. The dog also had to be put down shortly afterwards.

They had been deliberately hit by a silver Mondeo in Grosvenor Road at just before 11pm, shortly after a row with another group of men over a longstanding debt.

Passers-by came to their aid and called the emergency services but the Mondeo, with a shattered windscreen and broken wing mirror, drove away.

Ashley Donald was driving that car, and had other passengers inside, among them his father Samuel Henneberry, and they had with them a number of weapons, including a wooden pole and a baseball bat.

Investigators trawled CCTV from the area and used mobile phone data to piece together the men's movements that night and we later found the Mondeo abandoned in Compass Court.

We soon arrested the men but Donald had fled to Ireland two days after the fatal collision. We started the process to extradite him but he returned to the UK in September and handed himself in at Coventry Police Station.

All the men denied the murder of Andrew Flamson, and the three counts of attempted murder. They also denied a charge of criminal damage involving the death of a dog.

But today Donald, aged 24, of Carpenter Road, Edgbaston was found guilty of murder. Henneberry, 59, and Carl Tomlinson, 52 both of Westminister Road, Coventry and Callum Ayre, 19, of Meadow Street, were convicted of manslaughter at Leamington Justice Centre.

A fifth man who was also on trial was found not guilty on all counts.

Andrew's family have issued this tribute to him, saying: ‘We will miss our Andrew forever. He was a kind, loving and gentle man.

"He was loved by his family, his partner and lots of friends. We prayed for justice for our lost boy.

"Andrew is now our spirit in the sky, dancing with the Angels, and he will probably be teaching them his dance moves."

Detective Inspector Ranj Sangha, from the homicide team, said : "This was a truly awful incident - with a car being used as a weapon in revenge for an argument over owed money.

"The intention was at the very least to cause really serious harm and it has left families devastated by what happened - one grieving the loss of a father and uncle, and another coming to terms with their loved one suffering really serious life-changing injuries.

"We can only hope that these verdicts bring some sense of peace for them.

"Although each of the men admitted they were in the car they blamed each other, with the driver claiming his arm was grabbed by Carl Tomlinson which caused the car to hit the Flamson group.

"With the verdicts delivered by the jury it is clear they dismissed this account.

"All these men went out with weapons to find the group they had argued with earlier and they are jointly responsible for the fatal events that unfolded.”

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