A father and son have both been jailed over a “revenge” hit and run that killed a man as he walked home with friends.
Martin Breeze was convicted of murder and his son Shaun Breeze of manslaughter after Brian Darby was mown down and killed in Ingleby Barwick, Teesside, in February, last year. The murder trial had heard Mr Darby, 60, was walking home with friends after a night out when Martin Breeze drove into them, in retaliation for their remonstrating with his son for riding his bike through them.
Mr Darby was with a 17-year-old boy, a 50-year-old woman and two other men walking home after enjoying a night out at a café-bar when Shaun, 30, barged through them while riding a bike, out looking for drugs. When the group remonstrated with him, Breeze gave the impression he was carrying a knife. The three men gave chase, Breeze collided with another pedestrian and fell off his bike, before running off while calling his 57-year-old father.
Martin Breeze was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 32 years in custody for the murder of Mr Darby and the attempted murder of four other victims. Shaun Breeze was jailed for 16 years.
Brian was killed while on a night out
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Brian’s family say nothing will bring him back
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Martin Breeze, was at home when he got the call, but jumped in his van and was captured on CCTV driving at speed to pick up his son. The pair then drove together and spotted the group of friends. They drove the van at them, leaving the carriageway, mounting a grass verge, ploughing across a cycle path before deliberately mowing them down on the footpath. The impact caused the windscreen to shatter and one of the victims to be thrown in the air.
Mr Daeby was carried on the front of the bonnet before falling on to the road some distance from the impact. The 60-year-old died at the scene. The woman sustained life-threatening injuries while the teenager, and another man also suffered serious injuries that required hospital treatment.
The father and son returned the van to the road and fled the scene. They abandoned the heavily damaged van, arrived back at their home, and contacted the police to report the vehicle as stolen. During interview, Martin said he had been up all night, drinking alcohol and taking drugs and that his telephone had been in the van when it was stolen overnight. Shaun gave a similar account to his father, he stated he had only been out that night to sell his bicycle to a local cocaine dealer and didn’t know the van had been stolen until the morning.
Shaun Breeze was convicted of manslaughter
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Martin Breeze was convicted of murder
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Detectives viewed hours of CCTV footage, spoke to a variety of witnesses as well as gathering vital evidence including telecoms and forensic enquiries that led to both being charged. In July, a jury found Martin guilty of murder, attempted murder and perverting the course of justice.
Shaun was found guilty of manslaughter, four counts of grievous bodily harm with intent and perverting the course of justice following a trial at Teesside Crown Court. Shaun however appealed his convictions. The appeal judges quashed one conviction of GBH and changed the other, GBH convictions to be wounding without intent. His manslaughter conviction remained unchanged and the Court of Appeal returned the case to Teesside for sentencing.
Following the verdict, Brian’s family said: “Today’s verdict brings some satisfaction for our family and will hopefully serve as some justice for Brian. It goes without saying that it will not bring our Brian back, nor lessen the pain and anguish we have suffered in losing him and we will continue to suffer forever.
“We would like to thank the members of the public who shared information with the police and those who did everything they could to try and save Brian that night. It gives us comfort to know that there are still kind and caring people in our community, a stark contrast to those who took his life away and through their denials put our family through the pain of a trial in order to save themselves. For those individuals we have no words.”