Double murder accused 'crashed pickup truck into back of e-bike', court hears

A 30-year-old man accused of murdering two young men allegedly drove his black pickup truck the wrong way down a motorway slip road and ploughed into the back of an e-bike the men were riding on their way home from the pub, a court has heard.

Alex Rose is on trial at Guildford Crown Court charged with murdering William Birchard, 21, and Darren George, 22, in the early hours of July 22 2024 on the M3/A316 slip road in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey.

Prosecutors said Mr Birchard and Mr George had been on their way home from the Fairway Pub in Ashford when they had "the very great misfortune of encountering" Rose and two of his friends, whom Rose had called to help him after seeing people he suspected were trying to burgle him, the court heard.

It is alleged Rose crashed his pickup truck into the rear of the e-bike, causing Mr Birchard and Mr George to fall off the bike, before making a three-point turn on the motorway and driving back up the slip road, past the pair lying on the tarmac.

Jurors heard Rose, a landscape gardener, had been at his home in the private road Manor Gardens in Sunbury when he saw "movement in the darkness at the rear of his house" at around 11.40pm last July 21 and believed someone was trying to burgle him.

Opening the case on Tuesday, prosecutor Deanna Heer KC told jurors Rose made phone calls to his friends Charles Pardoe and Samuel Aspden, both 25, just before midnight on July 21.

The court heard the call to Aspden was initially unanswered, but Pardoe answered the call and then travelled to Sunbury from his home in Feltham to help Rose look for people he suspected were trying to burgle him.

By around 12.30am on July 22, having searched the playing field of St Paul's Catholic College, which Rose's garden backs onto, Rose called Aspden again and got through, jurors heard.

Aspden then drove towards Sunbury from his home in Walton-on-Thames in his white Ford Ranger, while Rose got into his black Ford Raptor with Pardoe in the passenger seat as they continued their search, the court heard.

The court heard that while Rose and Aspden drove around local streets, Pardoe and Aspden were on the phone to each other.

Pardoe and Aspden are also on trial accused of murdering Mr Birchard, from Colnbrook, and Mr George, from Egham.

Ms Heer told jurors: "Although they (Pardoe and Aspden) were not driving the black Ford Raptor, the prosecution case is they acted together with Alex Rose, assisting and encouraging him to commit the offences of murder that night."

All three male defendants are also accused of alternate charges of causing the deaths of Mr Birchard and Mr George by dangerous driving.

Prosecutors called the collision "violent retaliation", and said Pardoe and Aspden intended to cause Mr Birchard and Mr George harm as they "helped Rose hunt them down".

Jurors heard neither Mr Birchard nor Mr George was "anywhere near" the college when Rose first suspected he had seen burglars and had been on their way to the pub at that time.

At 12.49am, Mr Birchard and Mr George were captured on CCTV as they made their way along Nursery Road, Sunbury, towards the junction with Green Street, near to Manor Gardens, and appeared to be "in no hurry".

But by 12.50am, CCTV cameras on Green Street captured them travelling "at speed" towards the Sunbury Cross roundabout, pursued by Rose and Pardoe in the black vehicle, and Aspden in the white pickup truck, jurors heard.

"They were pursuing the e-bike at speeds in excess of 60mph," Ms Heer told jurors.

It was then that Mr Birchard and Mr George drove the e-bike the wrong way round the roundabout and the wrong way down the motorway slip road, prosecutors said, in an attempt get away from Rose and Aspden's vehicles.

The court heard Rose followed the bike down the slip road in his pickup truck before driving his vehicle into the back of the e-bike.

"The prosecution case is that he did so quite deliberately," Ms Heer said.

"Having done so, he performed a three-point turn on the dual carriageway, then drove back up the slip road, past the collision site, making no effort to stop to help William Birchard and Darren George who were, by then, lying in the road."

By that time, Mr Birchard was already dead, having suffered fatal head injuries, fractures to his face and skull and a severe brain injury, the court heard.

Mr George was still alive but had sustained "catastrophic head injuries", jurors were told.

He was taken to hospital after he and Mr Birchard were discovered in the road by a lorry driver, but died in the afternoon of July 22.

Throughout the time that Rose, Pardoe and Aspden allegedly pursued the e-bike, Rose had been on the phone to his girlfriend Tara Knaggs, 25, who was at Rose's home in Manor Gardens, the court heard.

Knaggs is on trial accused of assisting Rose when she allegedly booked a hotel and flights for him to leave the UK "with intent to impede" his apprehension.

"She was, the prosecution say, instrumental in trying to help him escape," Ms Heer told jurors.

The court heard Rose and Knaggs, of Great Ayton, Yorkshire, were arrested at Birmingham Airport on the afternoon of July 22 2024.

The defendants deny all the charges and the trial continues.

• guildford crown court