Murder accused 'did not know' he had hit e-bike

A man accused of murdering a mother-of-one in his Land Rover "did not know" he had struck her off the back of an electric bike, a murder trial has heard.

Keaton Muldoon said he would have stopped had he known 25-year-old Alana Armstrong had been knocked off the bike in Batley Lane, near Pleasley, Derbyshire, on 26 November last year.

Derby Crown Court heard Mr Muldoon also ran over Ms Armstrong's boyfriend Jordan Newton-Kay, who had his right leg amputated 15cm above the knee.

The defendant, who the court heard was a drug dealer, said he feared he was being robbed but did not chase the bikes before Ms Armstrong died at the scene.

Mr Muldoon, of Tuckers Lane in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, said he did not see her go "over" his Land Rover Discovery.

The 23-year-old denies Ms Armstrong's murder and causing grievous bodily harm with intent to kill Mr Newton-Kay.

He admitted causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving before his trial began.

KC Sally Howes, prosecuting, cross-examined Mr Muldoon on Tuesday and suggested that he was made a "fool of" in the lay-by of a country lane after he picked up a woman who wanted to buy £30 of cocaine from him.

Ms Howes said: "You were either embarrassed or annoyed by the fact that these bikes had lit up your car.

"Something happened in that lay-by that made you lose your rag and drive in that intimidating way, didn't it?"

"No," Mr Muldoon responded. "There was no reason to be embarrassed or annoyed."

The prosecutor continued: "We know that the vehicle ran over Jordan Newton-Kay's leg - you would know, because he was run over by you as the driver. You say you were unaware of it."

Mr Muldoon told the jury: "If I saw people fall, I would stop. I would not just leave people to suffer. I did not know I had hit anyone."

He told the court he thought he had successfully overtaken the bike at a passing point in the country lane, and that the bike was still behind him.

Ms Howes asked: "These are people you feared were robbing you. If you think you are being robbed, why are you pursuing them?"

Mr Muldoon told the court: "I was not pursuing them. Just because I'm behind them doesn't mean I'm chasing them. I was behind them doing 30 miles an hour, about a car distance [away]."

Ms Howes said to the defendant: "[Ms Armstrong] was scooped into the bonnet, wasn't she?

"She was not dragged - there are no injuries consistent with dragging, but there are injuries consistent with an impact onto her, or her onto a hard, unyielding surface."

Mr Muldoon said: "I would have seen if someone went over me."

The defendant denied that he said he "was only meant to knock them off the bike" to his passenger after the crash.

The court heard that Mr Muldoon followed Ms Armstrong and Mr Newton-Kay on one bike, and a rider on another bike, for two minutes and 20 seconds before the fatal crash.

Mr Muldoon told the jury: "There was no intention to intimidate him. I had no intention to do anything. If my intention was to leave that lay-by and go after them and hit them, why would I leave that amount of time to hit them?"

Ms Howes said Mr Muldoon told a "carefully constructed lie" when he told detectives he had not driven the vehicle for days before the collision and said he hoped his uncle "hands himself in".

When asked why he lied to police, Mr Muldoon said: "Because I was scared, everything what everyone was saying. It was a murder investigation, obviously I was going to be scared."

Mr Muldoon told the court, before becoming tearful: "I knew I wasn't going to see my children for a bit. I just had a newborn baby. I promised I would always be there."

The trial continues.

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