Grassmoor man died after argument with motorcyclist who hit his car

Stuart Bowdler, 74, took hold of the rider when fearing he planned to leave without swapping insurance details, they claimed.


Nottingham Crown Court heard that Colin Bailey, 30, was trying to start his motorbike following a minor bump outside the Boot and Shoe Inn, Grassmoor.



Soon after, Mr Bowdler got back into his car and slumped unconscious, suffering from a heart attack. He died despite receiving CPR from pub customers and then paramedics.



Bailey of Duke Street, Grimsby pleads not guilty to manslaughter on April 18; assaulting a woman; possessing heroin and cocaine with intent to supply. 



On the second day of the trial, a man said he was playing pool in the pub when he saw Mr Bowdler get out of his car and approach the rider, asking: “Have you got insurance?”



People left the pub and headed to the crash scene.



The man told the jury: “Basically everybody was saying ‘this lad is going to drive off.’ He was trying to start the bike. I said ‘you are not going nowhere’ because Stuart had hold of him round his chest, the top of his shoulders.”



He said Bailey used an elbow to try and force Mr Bowdler to loosen his grip.



The man went on: “Stuart went back and grabbed him again. I said to Stuart ‘let him go.’ I could see Stuart getting wound up.



“I said ‘just let him go. The police have been rung. Let them deal with it.’”



He claimed that Mr Bowdler’s trousers were ripped because the cycle’s back wheel began to spin.



Simon Eckersley, defending, said that Mr Bowdler was “a big powerful man, 6ft tall and broad.”



He asked the witness: “If he is in a bearhug of a big, powerful man, how did the motorcyclist manage to hit him?”



The man replied: “You are still going to swing your arms out.”



The man’s mother said Mr Bowdler was taken ill in his car. She handed over her husband’s heart spray to help him before police and paramedics arrived. 



Mr Eckersley said: “Stuart got the motorcyclist in a headlock.”



The 59-year-old woman replied: “No, he didn’t.”



The barrister said some people deliberately forced Bailey to the ground.



In response, the woman said: “The bike was on the ground. He tried to drive away.” 



In opening the case, prosecutor Richard Thomas said Bailey was on a 600cc Suzuki which struck Mr Bowdler’s vehicle as it prepared to turn into the pub car park. 



Tests showed “Bailey was riding whilst under the influence of drugs cocaine and cannabis.” The bike had no MoT, insurance or rear number plate.



Mr Thomas added: “Mr Bowdler had a history of significant cardiac disease, an ongoing impairment for which he used medication. He was at risk of a heart attack, a risk likely to be magnified by any stressful circumstances.



“The physical and emotional stress of the incident caused the release of adrenalin, a flight or flight reaction.”



The trial continues.