A thief who ran down and killed a man with his own Mercedes as the victim attempted to stop his car from being stolen has been convicted of manslaughter.
Errol Woodger, 38, drove into 50-year-old Marc Allen outside his home in Erith, south-east London, after he was rumbled as an intruder at the property.
Woodger snatched the car keys and got behind the wheel of the Mercedes, in the early hours of December 29 2019, before striking Mr Allen as he attempted to intervene.
At the Old Bailey on Tuesday, Woodger was cleared of murder but convicted by a jury of manslaughter and robbery of the car.
He is due to be sentenced at the end of June.
Woodger, who is in custody, clapped his hands once when the ‘not guilty’ verdict to murder was announced. He then angrily stormed out of the dock as the judge set the sentencing date and ordered a probation report on the danger he may pose to the public when released.
The trial heard neighbours found Mr Allen in the road with a severe head injury after being struck by the car. He died in hospital a month later.
Jurors were told Mr Allen’s lower right leg was amputated as a result of a previous illness and he used a prosthetic limb.
His car, a grey Mercedes GLA, had been supplied by a Motability Car Scheme and was parked in the forecourt at the time it was stolen.
Prosecutor Anthony Orchard KC said Mr Allen had been watching television or asleep on the sofa at his ground floor flat on Peareswood Road when a man was caught on CCTV outside.
The intruder climbed over a low wall and got on to a neighbouring unoccupied flat through a window.
Mr Allen is believed to have noticed the intruder, put on his prosthetic leg, and gone outside to investigate.
Neighbour Linda Rumsey heard shouts of “That’s my car. You aren’t taking my car”, and saw Mr Allen standing by the back of the car on the driveway.
It is believed he then suffered a “glancing blow” as the vehicle reversed quickly out of the parking spot. He was then struck by the front of the car as it left.
“He slid down the back of the boot and his head went bang when it hit the floor, I heard his head crack, it sent a shiver through me”, Ms Rumsey told the court.
“Whoever was in that car was intent on taking it, nothing was going to stop him.”
Emergency services were called at 2.53am and Mr Allen was taken to King’s College Hospital where he died on January 29, 2020.
The stolen Mercedes was found by police two days after it was taken, on a driveway on the Isle of Dogs in east London.
Woodger was arrested on May 28, 2020 and denied involvement in Mr Allen’s death, saying: “I was nowhere near the scene of the crime at the time the victim was attacked.”
He told police he had been attacked on the day of the car robbery, and said he had spent the next month himself in hospital. However detectives discovered that while the attack was real, it had happened hours after Mr Allen had been fatally injured.
Woodger’s DNA and fingerprints were then found on the car.
Judge Rebecca Trowler KC adjourned the sentencing hearing until June 27. Woodger, of Belvedere, south-east London, has been remanded back into custody.
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