Stephen Bates is accused of murdering Martin O’Donovan following the 70th birthday party where the two men first met
Martin O’Donovan
A man who ran over and killed his girlfriend’s brother has told a court “I didn’t know what I’d done, I couldn’t believe it”. Martin O’Donovan died aged 47 after being hit by Stephen Bates’ Ford Fiesta outside his sister’s home on Stonyhurst Road in Woolton during his mum’s 70th birthday party.
While the two were initially said to have “hit it off straight away”, they later became embroiled in a drunken punch up when the 42-year-old defendant apparently insisted on driving home despite having downed a cocktail of Jagerbombs, Stella Artois, Red Bull and vodka.
He then allegedly threatened that he would “pay someone to come and get” the other man before returning to the scene in his car 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.
Appearing in the witness box wearing a white long sleeved shirt and a navy blue tie, Bates began giving his evidence to the jury today, Monday. His counsel Andrew Haslam KC put to him this afternoon: “The prosecution say that you were out for revenge, because Martin O’Donovan punched you and made you look stupid. What say you?”
Bates replied “that’s not the case, no” and said that the purpose of his journey was to “try to sort our relationship out” and to visit his then partner Susanne Lewzey, Mr O’Donovan’s sister. He added that he was intending to “park up outside, where I always park it”, in the location where he had left his vehicle prior to the party.
But Bates recalled: “I’ve come in and I’ve hit something, which was the wall. Then, I’ve tried to correct the steering and turned in the opposite direction.”
Asked whether he had seen Mr O’Donovan before he then struck him with his car, he replied “no”. He similarly denied having intended to hit the deceased with his vehicle, saying: “I was coming in to park. I tried to correct the car. It’s just a natural reaction.
“It come to a stop, the car. I tried to move it, and the car was just revving. But it was stopped. I was sat there for a minute until Susanne… I was trying to move the car, ‘cos it stopped in the road.”
Ms Lewzey was then said to have approached and “screamed at him, banging on his car window”. Bates said of this: “I didn’t know what was going on. I think she was saying, ‘you ran him over’. I can’t really remember. She was screaming and banging on the window, then she opened the door. I didn’t know what I did really.”
Asked when he first realised he had struck Mr O’Donovan, Bates appeared to become emotional as he responded: “When I got out the car and I saw his legs under the car. Just total shock.”
Bates said that he had then called 999 “to get help for Martin”, adding: “I didn’t know what I’d done. I couldn’t believe it.”
The defendant went on to concede that he was “too drunk to be driving” at the time. Asked “what he meant” when he told the call handler “I’ve done the crime”, he said: “I’ve been drinking and I’ve ran someone over.”
Bates recalled that he was “upset” at this time as he “didn’t know what he’d done, and he was really hurt”. When Mr Haslam asked him why he had remarked “it’s over, it’s over” in the aftermath of the incident, he shook his head and said: “Dunno. That I’m going to prison for what I’ve done. I was drunk. I shouldn’t have been driving, and someone’s been run over.”
Under interview, Bates went on to state that he had spoken to police officers at the scene in an “arsey” manner. Asked in court why he had done so, he said: “I was just drunk and shocked.”
Mr Haslam then asked “who do you say is responsible for Martin O’Donovan’s death”, to which Bates replied: “Me. ‘Cos I shouldn’t have been driving.”
Further asked “how he felt about being responsible for Martin O’Donovan’s death”, he said “horrible”. He added that he was “terrified” in the aftermath of the collision, telling the court: “‘Cos I knew I was gonna go to prison for what had happened.”
Mr Haslam concluded his questioning by asking “what was your intention when you drove into Stonyhurst Road that night?”. Bates replied: “To see Susanne.”
The defence silk then put to him: “Did you intend to hit the wall outside? Did you intend to drive at Martin O’Donovan? Did you intend to hit Martin O’Donovan with your car? Did you intend to drive over Martin O’Donovan in your car? Did you intend to cause him or do him really serious harm? Did you intend to murder him?”
To each question, Bates replied “no”. John Benson KC previously told the jury of three men and nine women during the prosecution’s opening 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”.
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 a 999 call in which he said: “I’ve just run someone over on Stonyhurst Road. I think they’re dead.
“They’re not moving. They’re not breathing. We had an argument, and I’ve run him over. You need to send someone quick. I’ve done the crime. I don’t know what we were arguing over, but it’s my girlfriend’s brother.”
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 denies the charge of murder, having pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter. The trial, before Judge Neil Flewitt KC, continues.