Judge jails man for nine years after he ran over a gardener offering to mow lawns for £7.50 and told the victim's mother 'he's f***ing dead'

Published 29 October 2026, 18:03

• Liam Green's mother, Lori Hilton, begged killer Mark Wigley, 60, 'please don't kill him, I'm his mum', jurors heard.
• Wigley's elderly mother had posted a doorbell photo of Liam on Facebook, sparking a half-hour hunt to 'teach him a lesson'.
• Recalling the aftermath, Ms Hilton told police: 'I ran across the road and I held Liam's hand.'

A man has been jailed for nine years after he ran over and killed a gardener who had knocked on his elderly mother's door offering to mow her lawn for £7.50, telling the victim's mother her son was "f***ing dead" half an hour before he struck him with his car.

Mark Wigley, 60, of Royston Road, Cudworth, Barnsley, was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court on 29 October after a jury found him guilty of manslaughter for the death of Liam Green, 45, on 3 April 2026.

Liam died on Rose Tree Avenue in Cudworth after Wigley accelerated his white Volkswagen Touareg into him, running him over and killing him at the scene.

The chain of events that led to Liam's death began when he knocked on the door of Wigley's elderly mother, Louise Jean Wigley, while looking for gardening work in the area.

Liam had been going door to door offering to cut grass for £7.50.

His visit caused Louise Jean upset, and she shared a screenshot of Liam taken from her doorbell camera with family members on Facebook, according to reporting by the Barnsley Chronicle.

Wigley, along with his 39-year-old daughter Sarah Wigley and 54-year-old brother-in-law Neil Shaw — all residents of Royston Road, Cudworth — described Liam's money-making efforts as "badgering old ladies for money," according to The Star.

The three then set out to find him, spending around half an hour exchanging Facebook messages and phone calls describing what Liam was wearing as they hunted for him across the estate where he lived.

Prosecutor Tom Storey KC told the court: "On April 3, Liam was trying to find some work and hoping to make a bit of money by offering to mow lawns on a row of houses on Rose Tree Avenue. But unfortunately, one of the houses he knocked on was the home belonging to the Wigley family's mother and grandmother. For whatever reason, the defendants took exception to his approach and set off to the estate where Liam lived, and their intent was to make him leave their grandmother alone and to teach him a lesson."

Before the killing, Wigley confronted Liam's mother, Lori Hilton, on the street.

He pulled up alongside her and said: "I'm going to f***ing kill your son for what he's done," according to The Star.

Neil Shaw and Sarah Wigley were also present, demanding to know where Liam was and saying: "We want Liam, he's asking old women for money."

A police interview with Ms Hilton, played to the jury, captured the desperate exchange in full.

"I said, 'please don't kill him, please don't kill him,'" she told officers, as reported by the Barnsley Chronicle.

She tried to explain her son's intentions: "I said, 'he's only asking to cut grass, that's all he's doing.'"

Wigley's response was to ask her: "Do you know who I am?"

Ms Hilton continued to beg him: "Please don't beat him up, please don't kill him, I'm his mum."

Wigley replied: "He's f***ing dead, and if he goes to prison I'll get somebody to kill him in prison."

The violence that followed unfolded in two stages, as outlined by Mr Storey KC.

Wigley first found Liam on Almond Avenue, where he grabbed him by the lapels and slammed him against a van.

Shortly afterwards, on Rose Tree Avenue, two vehicles were driven at Liam in turn.

Liam managed to jump clear of a Range Rover, but when he walked into the path of Wigley's stationary Volkswagen Touareg, Wigley started the engine and accelerated, knocking Liam down and running over him.

Ms Hilton told police she heard shouting outside her home around half an hour after Wigley had threatened her.

When she went outside, she found her son pinned beneath the four-by-four.

"I ran across the road and I held Liam's hand," she said in her police interview, according to the Barnsley Chronicle.

Weeping, she added: "He was only going around asking if he could cut grass."

The prosecution argued that all three defendants had acted together in a joint enterprise "to kill him or cause him really serious harm," Mr Storey KC told the court.

The defence countered that the collision was an accident and that Wigley had not intended to cause Liam serious harm.

After a 16-day trial, the jury on 27 October found Mark Wigley not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.

Sarah Wigley and Neil Shaw were acquitted of all charges.

Judge Graham Reeds KC told Wigley at the conclusion of the trial: "You have been convicted of manslaughter, on what I consider to be abundant and clear evidence. The sentence will be one of immediate imprisonment."

He was jailed for nine years two days later.

Wigley had been arrested just three days after the killing and charged with murder.

He pleaded not guilty and the case went to trial.

Laura Procter, the senior investigating officer holding the rank of Detective Inspector, said her team "worked around the clock" carrying out CCTV and house-to-house enquiries to piece together what happened that day.

"Liam was simply looking for work when he sadly lost his life," she said.

"He was loved by many, and since his death, my thoughts have been with his family and friends."