Hit-and-run murder accused says he faced axe attack (From Times Series)

Garry Frater murder accused says he faced axe attack in Edgware

7:13pm Monday 8th March 2010 in Top Stories By Jack Royston

The man who twice ran over an Edgware father-of-three, killing him outside his home, says he thought he hit a speed bump.

Louis Tate, 24, claims he did not notice Garry Frater as he reversed down the 32-year-old's road because the victim's friend tried to smash through the windscreen with an axe.

Mr Tate first knocked Mr Frater to the ground and then reversed over him, dragging him several metres and only stopping after the body passed under the wheels, throwing the Ford Fiesta into the air.

The defendant told the Old Bailey how Delvin Robinson charged towards the vehicle, in De Havilland Road, and buried the axe in the windscreen at about 4am, on May 30.

He said: “He lashed out at the front window two or three times. The glass came down on my face so I ducked my head down so it didn't go in my eyes.

“I looked back up and the next thing the axe was stuck in the windscreen where my forehead was. I was scared so I put the car in reverse.

“He was trying to get the axe out of the vehicle. I just put it in reverse and tried to get away from him.”

Mr Robinson previously told jurors he did smash the windscreen with an axe but claimed he only launched the attack as the car sped away.

The court heard how Mr Tate, who has a girlfriend, and his friend Jake Lee, 23, also of Acton, went to Watford every Friday night to try to “score” with girls.

Prosecutors say CCTV evidence shows the pair “shadowing” Mr Frater, Mr Robinson and two women before they followed the group back to Edgware.

Mr Tate said Mr Lee, his co-defendant, had arranged to meet the girls but told the court their male companions started an argument after the car pulled up at its destination.

Mr Lee, of Heathfield Road, Acton, and Mr Tate, of Rosamun Street, Southall, deny murder.

The trial continues.