Wife of ex-Royal Navy officer tells how she watched husband run over twice by car thieves

The wife of a former Royal Navy office wept as she told police how she saw her husband crushed to death under the wheels of his stolen car.

Jessica Samwell, 34, sobbed as she described how she rushed downstairs to see her husband Mike, 35, with the rear wheels of his car across his chest.

Mrs Samwell then described how the £35,000 Audi reversed over Mr Samwell before driving over him again to escape the scene of the robbery.

A jury at Manchester Crown Court  saw two video recorded interviews with Jessica about the death of her husband outside the couple's home in Chorlton, Manchester on April 23 this year.

The court was told that Mr Samwell, a former lieutenant on Royal Navy nuclear submarines, died from crush injuries after trying to stop thieves stealing his car.

Ryan Gibbons, 28, from Chorlton, admits being the driver of the stolen car but denies murder and manslaughter. Raymond Davies, 21, also from Chorlton, also denies manslaughter.

Mrs Samwell told police that the couple were woken in the early hours of the morning by a noise and Mr Samwell had rushed downstairs dressed only in his underpants to investigate.

She said: "He was running downstairs and I was grabbing my phone to dial 999. I could hear Mike shouting 'oi, oi, no, oi, oi - not the f---ing car.'

"I was shouting 'Mike, Mike, stop, what are you doing? ' I was trying to ring the police. I was thinking 'this is really serious' but I did not know what was happening."

Mr Samwell said she then went out onto the decking overlooking the car parking space at the rear of the house to see her husband injured.

She said: "Mike was on the floor. Half of the wheels were on his chest in the middle. The car then reversed leaving Mike between the two sets of wheels. Then the car drove back over Mike and sped off.

"I was running toward him but my brain could not get hold of what was happening. I got to him and he had tyre marks across his chest - kind of diagonally.

"There was blood coming out of the back of his head and he was making like a gurgling noise. "He was making an awful noise and I was shouting 'help, help, somebody help me'.

Jessica Samwell

"I think a lady came up and she was talking to the police. I was thinking 'Oh my God, what has happened? How did he get there? How did he manage to get under them? What then hell is going on?'"

Jessica told the police in the video interview: "I was shouting 'help me, help me, somebody help me'. I was just telling him that I loved him and held his hand."

Prosecutor Alistair Webster QC told the court earlier: "Mike Samwell was crushed to death by his own car which had been driven over him twice."

Mr Webster said that Gibbons admitted stealing the car but claimed he was unaware of Mr Samwell and had only "felt a bump" as he drove away.

Mr Webster said: "Mr Samwell was in his underpants. He must have been obvious to the driver of the car before he went to the floor.

"He must have been obvious to the driver as he reversed onto him. Yet he drove over him and killed him."

He said that Mr Samwell's blood and skin were found on the Audi when it was recovered having been dumped by Gibbons later.

Mr Webster said the post mortem showed tyre marks on Mr Samwell's body which indicated two movements of tyres over the body.

He said: "At some stage, the vehicle was stationary with its rear wheels on top of him because that is what Jessica saw.

"There were 39 separate external injuries on Mr Samwell's body entirely consistent with him having been run over , dragged across the floor and with the tyres having gone over him.

"Gibbons must have realised that the object he was crushing under the wheels of the car was a human being. He must have realised it would cause at least very serious harm.

"And yet he continued to reverse over him and drove back over him. This was no accident. Gibbons was one of a team which went to steal a valuable car.

"When the owner attempted to frustrate this adventure, Gibbons was far more interested in saving his own skin than accepting that the game was up. And so he drove over Mike Samwell, knowing exactly what he was doing."

Gibbons of Chorlton denies murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter but admits burglary and the aggravated taking of a vehicle without the owner's consent.

Davies, also of Chorlton, denies manslaughter and the aggravated taking of a vehicle but admits burglary.

Gibbons's girlfriend Stacey Hughes, 28, of Chorlton denies assisting an offender. Two unknown men thought to be part of the plan to steal the car are still being hunted by police. The trial continues.