A KILLER who mowed down his victim with a van has told jurors he thought what he was doing was “right.”
Ryan Willicombe was giving evidence yesterday, Wednesday, from the witness box at Reading Crown Court, where he is on trial for murder.
The 19-year-old, of Home Straight, Newbury, was involved in a feud with another youth, Kayden Williams, who he clipped with his wing mirror.
But he hit Sheldon Lewcock head on, fatally injuring him in Pierces Hill, Tilehurst, on August 4, 2022.
The court has heard that Mr Willicombe’s family had been targeted for weeks before the incident and their vehicles damaged.
Mr Willicombe told jurors: “They was pushing and pushing and pushing.”
When he came across the group near his home on the fateful day, he said he was merely trying to frighten them away from the family home, which was in Tilehurst at the time.
But Philip Evans, prosecuting, said: “I suggest you’re telling this jury a number of lies; that what really happened was there was a war going on, in your mind, between you and the other group, wasn’t there?
“You were just waiting for the opportunity to get them and your opportunity came on Pierces Hill…and you took that opportunity.”
Mr Willicombe denied this.
He also denied deliberately waiting until this year to give his version of events, once the prosecution had made its case clear, having told police “no comment” during interviews.
Mr Evans added: “I suggest you were intent on ploughing through that group of bikes…you knew if you hit a human being on a motorbike with no helmet coming towards you in your van you would cause them really serious damage, didn’t you?
“And that was your intention, at the very least?”
Mr Willicombe, who, jurors were told, can react impulsively due to ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) denied this and told jurors: “I thought what I was doing was right; I thought what I was doing was fine.
“I didn’t see the risk of what I was doing.”
Paul Bogan KC, defending, called accident investigator Jonathan Webb as an expert witness.
Mr Webb said Mr Willicombe’s speed had been around 29mph and that he would have had approximately 1.4 seconds to react to Mr Lewcock appearing in his way.
Mr Webb said: “One point four seconds simply isn’t enough to react and move the vehicle out of the way.”
After the prosecution and defence counsel have summed up their respective cases, jurors will be sent out to consider their verdicts.
Mr Willicombe denies murder, manslaughter and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
He has admitted causing death by dangerous driving.
Meanwhile the hearing continues.
