Alex Rose, 30, drove his pick-up truck into William Birchard, 21, and Darren George, 22, on a motorway slip road in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, in the early hours of 22 July last year. Rose’s passenger, Charles Pardoe, 25, joined him in the pursuit.
The court heard the victims had been riding to a pub in Ashford and were “nowhere near” Rose’s home when he suspected a burglary. During the chase, the pair of e-bike riders rode the wrong way down a roundabout and motorway slip road in an attempt to escape. Rose deliberately drove into them, later performing a three-point turn to pass them while they lay injured on the tarmac.
Both victims died as a result of their injuries: Birchard at the scene and George later in hospital.
Jurors at Guildford Crown Court found Rose and Pardoe guilty of two counts of murder by majority verdict. Rose was sentenced to life with a minimum of 34 years, while Pardoe received a life sentence with a 29-year minimum term.
Rose’s girlfriend, Tara Knaggs, 25, who was on the phone to him during the incident, was convicted of assisting an offender and jailed for three years. A fourth defendant, Samuel Aspden, 25, was cleared of murder charges.
The arrests took place at Birmingham Airport and locally in the days following the attack.
