A man who was driving a car that collided with a teenager on a motorbike, said he “never intended” to cause harm, a trial has heard.
Brandon Glover, 24, of Pasture Close in Clock Face, drove a car which collided with the back of the two motorbikes following a high-speed chase, in which Glover drove his vehicle up to 97 mph along the 30 mph residential road. A court previously heard that Glover’s brother, Benjamin Glover, had his bike stolen earlier in the evening and the two men went out looking for it.
Harley Lea died after his bike was struck by Glover's Toyota Corolla on Park Road, near the junction of Blackbrook Road and Boardmans Lane, in the early hours of October 4 2022. Two other men, Jordan Carter and Louis Coleman, who were passengers on Mr Lea's bike, were also injured.
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Glover has previously pleaded not guilty to murder, manslaughter, two counts of grievous bodily harm with intent, and two counts of attempted GBH. Hours after the collision, Glover was interviewed with a solicitor present, and repeatedly denied he ever intended to cause harm to the boys on the bikes.
A transcription of Glover's interviews with police was read to the court during week two of the trial at Liverpool Crown Court. He told officers: “So I was asleep, I get a call from my mum, she sounds a bit stressed, she’s like ‘Ben’s just had his bike stolen’ and I think he’s not had it five minutes, so I come down."
Glover said they “ventured out” as it had only been around 15 minutes since they believed the bike had been stolen, so they thought it could still be in the area. He claimed the two men drove around and heard the sound of motorbikes, so followed it to the estate nearby, stopped and listened again.
The 24-year-old continued: “We didn’t know if it was his bike or not but Ben was in the passenger seat so he had his phone ready, just in case we saw it so we can phone the police and just take it from there.” He detailed that they continued searching and following the sound of bikes, and proceeded to Park Road.
He claimed that one of the boys on the bikes was “waving” a pair of bolt cutters around. The 24-year-old added: “I’m not angry or anything at this point, I am just like, I am just going to follow them.”
Glover told police his car “hit something in the road” that “felt like a brick because the car jolted”. He said the airbags in his car went off after hitting the first bike, and then he heard another “huge bang”, which he thought was the collision with the second bike.
He said: “I hit the first bike, bags deployed and I went into the second one.” Referring to seeing Harley Lea after the crash, he said: “At one point I think I knew the one that I went to couldn’t be helped you know.”
He said after hitting the first bike, he had “just wiped that one out”, and pulled the other way but “by that time the airbags have already gone off”. Glover added that he “slammed on the brakes”, and “obviously I wouldn’t keep accelerating if I hit something”.
“I’ve thought what the f**k, it is a huge mess. “It was like being thrown forward then there was just a huge bang which would have been the other bike and then the railing.”
The officer asked what Glover was going to do if he did find the stolen bike, and he said: “It is insured anyway so you get a new one, it was just the fact he had it for a few weeks so we thought if we do see it, we’ll sort of follow it around the area.
“The whole point was to just at least locate it and let the police deal with it, because he uses it for work. “I don’t think we would have gotten out, I don’t think that’s the bit we were thinking of.”
“There was no anger, it was relatively calm in a strange way.” Glover described the atmosphere in the car as a “weirdly quiet and relaxed environment”, and said he was not angry.
When asked what speed he was driving, he said: “40 mph, or less than 40, not fast enough to be stupid and dangerous.” The officer said: “So you're saying this was an accident?”
Glover responded: “Yes, as soon as we realised, I mean I think I got out first, then Ben was like we have to get out of the car, and I just looked around you know like blank. “I didn’t have any words, I was like how the f**k did this happen you know, from just like an accident like that to a full blown mess, horror you know.”
At 9.45pm the same day, Glover was interviewed a second time by police with the same people present, and again denied intending to cause any harm. The officer asked Glover what was going through his mind, and what did he want to achieve?
He responded: “Just for the police to get the bike back. “I have told Ben in the past, it is his bike and his responsibility so it is his fault if something happens to it, I just wanted to help him out.
“I was just thinking let's follow it and see what’s what, you know see what the bike is.” Glover said he was “focussed and determined on trying not to lose them” during the chase.
When asked if he intended to harm the people on the bikes, he said: “No, not at all, that was never the intention.” He was also asked if he intended to scare the boys, which he denied: “No, I told Ben the intention was to ultimately get the bike back.
“The whole atmosphere in the car was just relaxed, in a weird way you think that you would be, you know, I’ve never been of an angry nature, I’ve never had a fight in my life, you know I’m just quite soft generally.”
The trial continues.
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