Manslaughter plea as trial jury considers evidence
AJURY in the trial of three men accused of murdering a 59-year-old grandfather who was killed after being dragged nearly a kilometre along the A38 in Plymouth, after he had been knocked from his powerful motorbike, has heard the closing stages of the case.
David Crawford, from Ivybridge, died after his black Kawasaki motorbike was struck from behind by a Ford Transit van on the A38 on-slip at St Budeaux junction on the evening of May 12 this year. At the time he was stationary, alongside a black Mercedes which had pulled up alongside him on the on-slip.
Benjamin Parry, aged 42, of Wright Close in Devonport, was driving the van at the time while Chad Brading, aged 36, of Wright Close, Devonport, and Thomas Pawley, aged 32, of Heather Walk, Ivybridge, were in the Mercedes car.
All three have denied the charge of murder by joint enterprise, although the jury at Plymouth Crown Court witnessed Parry plead guilty to manslaughter after the charge was formally put to him by the clerk of the court.
However, despite his plea of guilty to unlawfully killing Mr Crawford, lead prosecutor Paul Cavin KC said the plea was not accepted by the Crown.
Mr Justice Neil Garnham, who has presided over the case for the past two weeks, gave his directions to the jury, explaining how they are to come to their verdicts based on the evidence presented to them, which has included dashcam and cab-cam footage, CCTV, expert witnesses, police interviews with the three suspects and testimony from the defendants themselves in the witness box.
Mr Justice Garnham noted that the case would create “strong emotions” in them, but that they must approach the evidence dispassionately. He noted that the case against the men was that they intended to murder or cause really serious harm to Mr Crawford. However, he also noted that while it was clear from Parry’s guilty plea that he struck and as a result killed the 59-year-old, they must consider whether he intended to kill or cause him really serious harm.
During the trial, the jury heard how the incident was linked to a rivalry between motorcycle clubs – the Cornwall-based chapter of the Red Chiefs Motorcycle Club, of which Mr Crawford was a member, and the Plymouth chapter of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club, of which Brading was president, Parry was secretary and Pawley was ‘road captain’. The jury heard that the Red Chiefs were a support group for the more notorious Hells Angels Motorcycle Club and that the issue – according to testimony from the three accused – centred around the wearing of ‘colours’ in a rival club’s territory.
The jury had heard from a motorcycle club police expert who explained that ‘colours’ referred to the badges and emblems of that club. They were told it was considered an insult for one group to wear their colours in another group’s turf and was an antagonistic act. One of the accused, Brading, even went so far as to suggest that the act of the Red Chiefs MC and Hells Angels MC riding over the Tamar Bridge into Plymouth wearing their colours was “an aggressive move”.
Defending Parry, Sean Brunton KC, noted that his client had been clear that the death of Mr Crawford was his fault, and that he had pleaded guilty to manslaughter in front of them. However, he noted that the testimony they had heard did not show there was any planning involved and that Parry had himself admitted in the witness box that he had struck the motorcyclist after a “rush of blood to the head”.
The trial continues.