A thug driver on a revenge mission deliberately mowed down a couple in a murder bid then sped off to cover up his crimes.
Barry Walker, 35, drove his Mercedes van at Samantha Webster and Gerald Brown when he spotted them chatting to two friends in the street. He then boasted to a pal about hitting them with his vehicle – being more concerned about a burst tyre – and then dumped it at a nearby supermarket.
Samantha, 36, who has been left scarred for life with serious leg injuries, told the Sunday Mail: “I don’t know who he was aiming for. I don’t know if it was me or Gerry or any of the others. It could have been any of us. He tried to kill us that day.”
Gerald, 28, who was relatively unscathed by the horror, added: “I was nearly murdered that day.”
Gas firm boss Walker is now behind bars after he pled guilty to attempted murder at the High Court in Glasgow last week. It’s thought he flew into a rage over a disturbance the night before involving an alleged injury to his partner and was pursuing Samantha and Gerald.
Walker was then captured racing off from the scene in Auchinairn, Glasgow, before his dashcam also recorded him calling a friend. He was heard boasting how he “ran them over” and had “skelped” Samantha before saying he would have to ditch his van after the incident about 3pm on July 16, 2021.
On the day of the attack, the couple were with Samuel Wilson, 22, and 18-year-old Brandon McFadden standing near a lane in Clelland Avenue, Auchinairn. The group soon became aware of a white Mercedes Panel van revving towards them.
Walker was heard saying “b*****ds” as he approached. Prosecutor Alan Parfery told the court: “The van was travelling at 25-30mph – they were unaware of it targeting them until a split-second before the impact.”
The dashcam footage was played in court and Samantha could be heard on it loudly yelling in pain as she is then hit. Parfery said: “The impact caused Samantha Webster to be forced into an electrical box within a hedge behind her before she fell to the ground screaming.”
Wilson and McFadden managed to run off. Walker meantime reversed and headed back on to the main road, leaving his victims for dead.
He soon made a one-minute phone call to a friend confessing to what had happened. It included him admitting: “Aye, I just ran them over – him and his f*****g bird. He was talking to two other people, so don’t say that to anybody. I skelped her – he ran out the way and I skelped her. I need to go and get rid of the van. I think I have a f*****g burst tyre.”
Before abandoning the van in a lay-by next to a supermarket in nearby Robroyston, Walker was clocked on camera checking for any damage to the vehicle. He was eventually collected by an associate and driven away. Samantha meantime was helped by a retired paramedic and an off-duty duty nurse as she lay stricken in the street.
They had been alerted to shouts of, “They’ve hit Sam. They tried to kill Sam.” Parfery said the victim was treated for “severe injuries” to her left leg at hospital. The advocate depute said: “She was found to have two fractures to her knee, blood loss and required extensive treatment including two separate surgeries.”
Samantha has been left scarred for life and continues to have “limited movement” in her knee. Her partner Gerald needed treatment for a minor wound to his wrist, the court heard.Police probing the hit and run discovered the van was linked to a logistics firm that Walker worked for at the time. He was found to be the only person who had access to the vehicle that day.
Despite attempts, Walker could not initially be traced. The incriminating dashcam footage was meantime seized from the van. It was almost a month later, when a police officer aware Walker was a wanted man happened to spot him in his car outside his house in Bishopbriggs, Dunbartonshire.
Marco Guarino, defending, had asked for Walker to remain on bail to “put his personal affairs in order”.
But judge Lord Summers said: “I am not minded to continue bail. You did not surrender yourself to police and you are going to be facing a lengthy sentence of imprisonment.”
Walker will return to court on June 27 in Livingston.
Speaking at her home in Kirkintilloch yesterday, Samantha added: “I still have issues with my knee. I had to have a big skin graft. I still can’t straighten it properly. I can’t walk long distances. I just can’t do it.”
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