Jury convicts driver of murdering a cycling headteacher trapped under his car as he drove off

Published 30 October 2026, 15:39

• Simon Richardson, 35, switched cars to escape police after the crash, a two-week murder trial in Manchester heard.
• Detective Chief Inspector Louise Edwards said Richardson killed Stretford Grammar head Michael Mullins 'in one of the most horrific ways I have ever seen'.
• Mr Mullins's son said their final exchange was his father 'reminding me of how proud he was of me'.

A driver has been convicted of murder after he struck a headteacher on his bicycle, dragged him beneath his car and fled the scene, a jury at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court found on Friday 30 October 2026.

Simon Richardson, 35, of no fixed abode, killed Michael Mullins, headteacher at Stretford Grammar School in Greater Manchester, as Mullins cycled home from work on the evening of Monday 20 April 2026.

According to the Greater Manchester Police report, Mullins became trapped under Richardson's car after Richardson ran a stop sign and then fled the scene without stopping.

He then switched vehicles in a bid to escape capture.

He was arrested the following day after a short police pursuit, charged with murder, and pleaded not guilty throughout the two-week trial.

He is due to be sentenced on Monday 2 November 2026.

Detective Chief Inspector Louise Edwards, the senior investigating officer, said Richardson chose to take Mullins's life "in one of the most horrific ways I have ever seen."

She described Mullins as "a man who was simply cycling home from the job he had loved for 17 years — a route he had cycled many times before," and called on the public to remember him rather than his killer, saying he was "beloved in his community, his school, by his family and friends."

Edwards also thanked bystanders who stopped to help Mullins on the night of the collision.

"To know that someone was with him helped to give his family a glimmer of comfort during this incredible tragedy," she said.

She praised her investigative team for working through "countless witness statements and hours of CCTV footage" to build the case, and commended the family for the courage they showed attending and sitting through the trial.

Mullins's wife said in her tribute: "My past, present and future have been brutally and callously torn apart. My memories of being with Michael through the rough and the smooth are now permanently tainted with sadness."

She added: "I am, we are, completely bereft and adrift without our anchor, Michael Mullins."

His son recalled that Mullins "would drive me to every rugby game on a Sunday and was always there to cheer me on from the sidelines."

He said their final exchange before Mullins dropped him at the station was his father "reminding me of how proud he was of me."

His daughter described a father who loved music, was learning guitar, and would pick the family up from the airport after holidays to be the first to hear about their trips.

"I made a promise in those first days that I would live the rest of my life for my dad," she said.