2:17pm Tuesday 30th March 2010
By Jack Royston
A MAN accused of using his car to kill an Edgware father-of-three will face a retrial.
Jurors at the Old Bailey could not reach a verdict in the case of Louis Tate, 24, of Southall, after a three-week trial in which he was accused of murder over the death of Garry Frater, in May.
Co-defendant Jake Lee, 23, of Acton, was found not guilty on one count of murder and an alternative count of manslaughter.
During the trial Mr Lee said he had no idea Mr Frater, 32, had died after being hit by the car in De Havilland Road, at around 4am on May 30.
He said: “I didn't know that anyone was in the road, I didn't even know that anyone got hurt.
“I was too scared to be thinking about whether anyone had been hit. I felt nothing, I just thought we had hit a speed bump.”
Mr Frater, who lived with his mother in Cobham Close, just yards from where he was hit by the car, was rushed to hospital but died later that day from multiple injuries.
The incident came after a night out in Watford, when Mr Lee was seen on CCTV near Mr Frater, his girlfriend Sinead Lambert, his best friend Delvin Robinson and a 21-year-old female friend.
Mr Lee and his friend Mr Tate had been in regular contact via mobile phones and they followed the four as they took a taxi back to Edgware.
Mr Lee told the jury he had gone to Watford hoping to “score” with women, and he had got the impression Ms Lambert was interested in meeting up later that night.
Mr Tate is due to appear in court on April 7 when a date for the re-trial is likely to be set.
© Copyright 2001-2013 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.times-series.co.uk
http://www.times-series.co.uk/trade_directory/