Walton-on-Thames: Shaan Mir jailed for killing Matthew Tester in car park row

Shaan Mir killed Matthew Tester in a row sparked by a relationship breakdown

A man who mowed down and killed a father in a "brutal" attack in a supermarket car park has been jailed.

Shaan Mir, 27, repeatedly reversed over Matthew Tester, 49, in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, on 22 April.

It followed a row sparked by Mir's belief that a man who worked with Mr Tester had caused a relationship he had with a girlfriend to break down.

Mir was cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter at Guildford Crown Court. He was jailed for 15 years.

He was also disqualified from driving for five years at the sentencing hearing on Thursday.

Mr Tester, a scooter enthusiast who was known locally as Tik, died at the scene. A second man was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Mir's car was found abandoned with the engine still running

The court heard Mir messaged the man he believed had caused the relationship breakdown on Instagram, and the pair decided to meet. The man brought two work colleagues, including Mr Tester.

After a brief conversation, Mir punched the man in the face, prompting Mr Tester to intervene by telling Mir to leave his work colleague alone.

As Mr Tester walked away, Mir ran him over, before stopping and then repeatedly reversing over him, police said.

Investigators said Mir drove off but was arrested later that evening after his car was found abandoned with the engine still running.

Mir, of Arlington Lodge, Weybridge, was found not guilty of the attempted murder of the second man. He pleaded guilty to criminal damage at the start of the trial after he threw a brick at a window.

'Crushing'

Det Ch Insp David Springett, of the Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team, said Mir's actions had "ruined many lives and devastated others".

Mr Tester's brother, Steve Tester, expressed the family's disappointment at the verdict for a "senseless and wholly avoidable" death.

He said: "He was killed in a brutal and tragic attack which rocked our entire world. We've lost a son, brother, husband, father, uncle and a wonderful friend.

"The fact that the jury didn't return a verdict of murder is crushing for all of us."

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