Men jailed for life after killing e-bike riders in Surrey
Alex Rose and Charles Pardoe receive minimum terms of 34 and 29 years; Tara Knaggs jailed for assisting an offender; Samuel Aspden cleared
Two men were jailed for life on murder charges after they killed two e-bike riders in Surrey, mistaking them for burglars. Alex Rose, 30, deliberately drove his black pickup into William Birchard and Darren George while travelling the wrong way down a motorway slip road in Sunbury-on-Thames in July last year, beginning a chase that reached about 60 mph with Rose's passenger, Charles Pardoe.
Jurors at Guildford Crown Court found Rose and Pardoe guilty of two counts of murder after hearing Birchard, 21, and George, 22, were on their way to a pub in Ashford and had no link to Rose's home.
Pardoe was given a minimum term of 29 years, and Rose a minimum term of 34 years. Rose's girlfriend, Tara Knaggs, 25, who had been on the phone to him throughout the pursuit, was jailed for three years after being found guilty of assisting an offender. Samuel Aspden, 25, another of Rose's friends who drove around the area that evening, was cleared of murder charges.
Birchard died at the scene from head injuries, fractures to his face and skull and a severe brain injury; George died in hospital shortly after. Birchard's father issued a statement saying his son was more than a victim of a senseless crime and would be deeply missed by his family and friends.