A drunk driver who repeatedly sobbed ‘I’m going to jail!’ as he was arrested for running over his girlfriend’s brother on the night they first met has been jailed for life.
Martin O’Donovan died aged 47 after being hit by Stephen Bates’ Ford Fiesta outside his sister’s home on Stonyhurst Road in Woolton, Liverpool, following his mum’s 70th birthday party.
The incident took place on April 18 after Mr O’Donovan tried to stop 42-year-old Bates – who had ‘downed a cocktail of Jagerbombs, Stella Artois, Red Bull and vodka’ – from driving home.
Although the pair had initially ‘hit it off straight away,’ a fight broke out when the defendant refused to leave without his car.
The two men ended up exchanging punches in the front garden, with Bates shouting after the fighting had been broken up: ‘Look at you. You’re a f****** p****. You’re a c***. You’re all c****.’
Mr O’Donovan’s sister Natalie O’Donovan eventually drove Bates away, but he was described as ‘furious’ and ‘seething’ throughout the journey. He allegedly threatened to ‘pay someone to come and get’ the other man, before grabbing his keys and speeding back to the scene.
Moments later, Bates mounted the pavement and ‘deliberately’ drove straight into Mr O’Donovan who had been sitting on a wall outside the address, trapping him beneath the car.
Family members, including Mr O’Donovan’s uncles and cousins, tried desperately to lift the vehicle, but he later died in hospital from catastrophic injuries after suffering two cardiac arrests on the way to the hospital.
Bates called 999 himself and told police: ‘I know what I’ve done. I’ve f***** up.
Stephen Bates (pictured) mounted the pavement and ‘deliberately’ drove straight into Martin O’Donovan who had been sitting on a wall outside the address, trapping him beneath the car
The incident took place on April 18 after Mr O’Donovan tried to stop 42-year-old Bates – who had ‘downed a cocktail of Jagerbombs, Stella Artois, Red Bull and vodka’ – from driving home
Officers described him as extremely intoxicated when they arrived, with Bates crying repeatedly about going to prison
‘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.’
Officers described him as extremely intoxicated when they arrived, with Bates crying repeatedly about going to prison.
On Friday, at Liverpool Crown Court, he was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 18 years. Sentencing, judge Neil Flewitt KC said: ‘I want to begin by saying something about Martin O’Donovan, who was only 47 years of age when he died on the 19 of April this year.
‘He died on what should have been a day of celebration, to mark his mother’s 70th birthday. Instead, the day ended in tragedy, with guests at the party being devastated by the violent death of a man who they loved dearly.
‘His sisters have lost their protector, a man who they regarded as loving, strong and fiercely loyal.
‘Susanne [Lewzey, Bates’ girlfriend]’s grief has been made even worse by the knowledge that the man who killed her beloved brother was a man who she trusted and never thought would do anything to harm her or her family’.
He added that Bates had become ‘abusive’ towards his girlfriend when she attempted to stop him from driving and that his drunken behaviour likely led to the fight between him and Mr O’Donovan.
‘You drove off and returned to Stonyhurst Road. By that time, Martin O’Donovan was sitting on the low wall outside, having a drink and perhaps a cigarette. You drove quickly along Stonyhurst Road. You then quite deliberately drove onto the pavement and ran over Martin O’Donovan, trapping him under your car,’ he added.
‘That was no accident. It was a determined act of aggression, directed towards someone who had done nothing to provoke you to act in that way.
‘Martin O’Donovan suffered extensive injuries to his skull and extensive chest and abdominal injuries. As a result of your actions, Martin O’Donovan died on the 19th of April’.
In his evidence, Bates told the court that he had returned to the scene to ‘try to sort our relationship out’ and said he was intending to ‘park up outside, where I always park it’.
He went on to recall: ‘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 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. I didn’t know what I’d done. I couldn’t believe it.’
‘During your trial, you disavowed any connection between running over Martin O’Donovan and your earlier argument. That was clearly untrue, and a blatant attempt to avoid responsibility for your actions,’ Mr Flewitt added.
‘At the scene and at the police station, you were obstructive and showed no concern for the wellbeing of Martin O’Donovan. You were only concerned for the impact of your actions on your own life.
‘I cannot be sure that, when you left the Mossley Hill area, you intended to use your car as a weapon or have it available as a weapon. I am sure that your decision to drive at Martin O’Donovan was a spontaneous decision, fuelled by alcohol and rage and made when you saw him sitting on the wall outside the house.
‘Although I accept that the offence of murder was neither planned nor premeditated, you did make a determined effort to return to confront Martin O’Donovan.
‘This offence was committed outside the home address of Martin O’Donovan’s sister. Family members of all ages saw him trapped under your car and fatally injured.
‘I cannot be sure that you intended to kill Martin O’Donovan. In my judgement, what you did was so dangerous and carried with it such an obvious risk of death that you gain little benefit from the absence of an intention to kill.
‘I accept that you have shown some remorse for causing the death Martin O’Donovan. However, that is tempered by your behaviour following the fatal incident, during which time you were clearly only concerned for yourself.’
Martin O’Donovan (pictured) died aged 47 after being hit by Stephen Bates’ Ford Fiesta outside his sister’s home on Stonyhurst Road in Woolton, Liverpool, following his mum’s 70th birthday party
In his evidence, Bates told the court that he had returned to the scene to ‘try to sort our relationship out’ and said he was intending to ‘park up outside, where I always park it’
Andrew Haslam KC, defending, said on his behalf today: ‘We cannot sensibly argue but that the fact he drove his vehicle while heavily intoxicated and the fact that the circumstances of this murder occurred in a residential setting are not factors your honour can take into account to make an upward adjustment.
‘It is not just the fact that the murder was committed in a residential setting. That venue was to hold the deceased’s mother’s 70th birthday party, and it was Susanne Lewzey’s home.
‘There is an absence of significant planning or premeditation, on the facts of this case. The defendant left Mossley Hill to go to Stonyhurst Road in his vehicle as a means of transportation from A to B.
‘It may be that the jury’s verdict is consistent with a finding that he did not go back to speak to Susanne Lewsey only, but went back to confront the deceased.’
When Judge Flewitt remarked that Bates had taken ‘quite a calculated decision to deceive’ Natalie O’Donovan before returning to the scene, Mr Haslam continued: ‘Yes, albeit against the background of drink. Your honour knows the effect that alcohol has for one’s behaviour.
‘It does appear that calculation is, given the contents of the references provided, out of character. We do submit that the facts of the offence itself lack planning or premeditation. Thankfully, in many regards the circumstances must have been very short lived. That is no consolation for anyone.
‘Then, we turn to what we submit is a matter for your honour’s determination, which is a lack of intention to kill.
‘We submit that the facts of this case demonstrate the defendant’s decision to drive at the deceased must have happened either by way of a spontaneous reaction or on the spur of the moment, given he could not have known the deceased would be outside and could not have seen the deceased until moments before.
‘We recognise the fact that the defendant ultimately used his car as a weapon may balance that feature in your honour’s determination. We submit that there is scope for your honour to find, on the facts of this case, a lack of intention to kill.
‘He has always accepted that he caused the deceased’s death by his unlawful act. He has to live with the knowledge that, even on his own admission, he caused the loss, the death of a father, of a son, of a brother and a much loved friend to many people, it would seem.
‘Lastly, we turn to personal mitigation, which we readily concede is of limited relevance. Firstly, he sought to improve his life by studying for a degree, graduating with a 2:1 and working to support himself and his wife until he finished his studies, and thereafter gaining full time employment.
‘Your honour knows just how valued he was as a project manager at the Whitechapel Centre, helping the homeless to find a home and maintain life skills for independent living. Described by his mother as his rock, he is, on any view, a loving son, grandson, uncle, brother and friend.
‘People describe him as being both kind and considerate and, plainly, a man committed, in the past, to his family, particularly to both his nieces, a loyal brother and a loyal uncle, one, but for this tragedy, who did seem to have a positive future ahead of him. There is talk, in his sister’s statement, of him having plans to set up his own business.
‘He has taken steps to advance his position whilst in prison. He has applied to become a mentor to help those who have suffered mental health issues as he, the defendant, has in the past.
‘Whilst we acknowledge that those matters of personal mitigation are of limited relevance to a case of this nature, they do perhaps paint a picture of a very different man to the one that the jury convicted of the most serious crime of them all.’
