Stephen Bates denies murdering his then-girlfriend’s brother
Police at the scene on Stonyhurst Road in Woolton(Image: Liverpool Echo)
A man told 999 “I’ve done the crime” after running over his girlfriend’s brother following an argument, a court has heard.
Martin O’Donovan, 47, died after being hit by a Ford Fiesta driven by Stephen Bates, 42. The pair were outside the home of Bates’ girlfriend, where her mum was celebrating her 70th birthday.
Liverpool Crown Court hears Bates and Mr O’Donovan “hit it off straight away”, but they later became embroiled in a drunken punch-up.
Bates allegedly insisted on driving home from the scene despite having drunk Jager bombs, Stella Artois, Red Bull and vodka at the party, the Liverpool Echo reports.
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He was said to have threatened to “pay someone to come and get” Mr O’Donovan, before returning to the scene on Stonyhurst Road in Woolton, Liverpool, and “deliberately driving straight at him”.
Mr O’Donovan was left trapped beneath the chassis as a result, with his uncles and cousins having worked together in order to lift the vehicle up and free their relative. However, he subsequently died in hospital after suffering serious head injuries during the incident.
Bates, of Herondale Road in Mossley Hill, meanwhile went on to tell the officers who arrested him “I know what I’ve done, I’ve f***ed up”. He is currently on trial at Liverpool Crown Court accused of murder.
Jurors were played recordings of a series of 999 calls which were made in the aftermath of the incident yesterday afternoon, Thursday. The first was placed by Susanna Lewzey, Mr O’Donovan’s sister and Bates’ then girlfriend, at 11.40pm. In this call, she said: “I need an ambulance. He’s been ran over. Oh my god. My brother’s been ran over.”
Martin O’Donovan(Image: Merseyside Police)
Another relative, Victoria Shepherd, called police at 11.43pm. She told the operator at this time: “We need the police now mate. Someone’s run someone over. It’s bad. There’s all murder going on. It’s an emergency. He’s unconscious.”
A man was then heard in the background saying “get off me, just let go”, before Ms Shepherd added: “I’m just holding someone before there’s more murder. It’s bad. No one’s kicking off on anyone. It’s just someone’s been run over.
“He’s bleeding from his head. He’s breathing. There’s a car in the middle of the road. I don’t even know whose it is. He’s bleeding an awful lot now. He was under the car. He was literally stuck under the car. Loads of lads have lifted it up and dragged him out.”
Ms Shepherd meanwhile added of Bates: “He’s still here. He’s just sat on a wall. He was at the party. There was some trouble, but he left and he’s come back. He’s very distressed. I don’t know his name. You need to get the police. There’s gonna be trouble if there’s no police here.”
Bates himself would go on to dial 999 at 11.47pm, telling the call handler: “I’ve ran somebody over. I don’t know whether they’re f***ing dead or alive. I don’t know whether they’re alive or dead. You need an ambulance or something. I think they’re dead. I don’t know.
“They’re not breathing, I don’t think. We had an argument, and then I’ve ran him over. You need to send someone quick. I’m staying here. I’ve done the crime, and I’ve… I’ll f***ing… He’s on the floor. I don’t know. You need to send someone quick.”
Bates then sounded tearful as he said “oh my god”. When asked why he had been arguing with Mr O’Donovan, he added: “He’s my girlfriend’s brother. I don’t know. Here’s the police anyway. It’s over, it’s over. They’re here now. The ambulance is here. The police are here.”
John Benson KC previously told the jury of three men and nine women during the prosecution’s opening on Tuesday that the party at Ms Lewzey’s home on the evening of April 18 this year had “started off as a happy family occasion”, with a “jolly atmosphere” being described as they celebrated their mum’s 70th birthday. However, Bates was said to have become “progressively more inebriated” during the course of the evening.
This led to a row between him and Ms Lewzey, his girlfriend of 19 months, during which he refused to take a taxi home and instead insisted on driving. Mr O’Donovan, who had only met his sister’s partner for the first time that evening but had “got on well” with him, was asked to reason with him as a result.
But the two men instead ended up exchanging punches in the front garden, with Bates reportedly shouting after the fighting had been broken up: “Look at you. You’re a f***ing p***y. You’re a c***. You’re all c***s.”
While Bates ultimately agreed that another sister, Natalie O’Donovan could drive him home in his car, he was described as being “seething” during this 12-minute journey and “furious with Martin O’Donovan for what had happened earlier”. He was also said to have “said he’d kill him” and would “get someone to kill him”, adding that he “wasn’t going to get away with having punched him”.
Liverpool Crown Court(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Having directed Ms O’Donovan to drive to Barndale Road, the street next to where he lived, Bates then took hold of the car keys and “sped off” without her. With the return journey back to Stonyhurst Road having taken him only five minutes to complete, he reportedly “suddenly turned and drove straight at Martin O’Donovan”, who had been sitting on a wall outside the address.
Bates then apparently continued revving the engine, seemingly attempting to continue driving, being labelled “completely unmoved” following the collision. Ms Lewzey, who had witnessed the crash, meanwhile banged on his window in a “hysterical” state while “screaming for him to stop”.
Mr Benson said of Mr O’Donovan’s injuries: “It was clear to medics that he was critically injured. He suffered two cardiac arrests before he was taken hospital. Lifesaving procedures were undertaken. These were futile. He was pronounced life extinct at 4.32am on the 19th of April at 47 years of age.
“The injuries supported a conclusion that Martin O’Donovan had been run over at least once. The injuries to his skull were extensive. He also suffered extensive chest and abdominal injuries.”
Following the incident, Bates was said to have got out of his car before walking “to the other side of the road”. One witness heard him remark “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, what have I done?”, while, shortly after 11.45pm, he went on to make the 999 call.
Police who attended the scene noted Bates was “extremely intoxicated”, while he told officers “I know mate, I’m not going anywhere” as he was handcuffed. Having then been told he would be required to undergo a breathalyser test, he added: “I know what I’ve done. I know what I’ve done is wrong. I’ve f***ed up.”
When interviewed at Belle Vale Police Station the following day, Bates claimed he “didn’t see Martin” and denied having intentionally driven at him. He also told detectives he had returned to the property as Ms O’Donovan had informed him during the journey back to his address that her sister “wanted to end the relationship”, and he was intending to “go back to speak to his partner”.
Mr Benson said: “In short, he would say that this was all a terrible accident. The prosecution do not accept that. The prosecution will invite you to consider various factors that indicate that the defendant returned to Stonyhurst Road in a hurry to enact his revenge for being punched by Martin O’Donovan and, no doubt, being made to look stupid.
“He repeatedly threatened that he would kill Martin O’Donovan. He was there to be seen, and he was a person he would have been looking out for. This was no accident. This was a deliberate manoeuvre, carried out in rage in order to enact the threats that he had made minutes beforehand. The prosecution say that his intentions were clear. The prosecution say, therefore, that Martin O’Donovan’s death was no unfortunate accident. It was clearly murder.”
Bates, who is represented by Andrew Haslam KC and Nicola Daley, denies the charge of murder, having pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter. The trial, before Judge Neil Flewitt KC, continues.