Burglar jailed for running over amputee with own Mercedes

A burglar has been jailed for 13 years over the death of an amputee who was run over by his own Mercedes car.

Transcript

00:00Neighbours found Mark Allen in the road with a severe head injury, from which he died a month

00:12later, having never regained consciousness. He was run over by his own car as he attempted to

00:20stop its theft by former soldier Errol Woodgar. Woodgar has now been jailed for 13 years,

00:28having initially denied being present. The defendant claims to do as he was only a passenger

00:36in the vehicle driven by an accomplice who had since died from a drug overdose. Following an

00:44Old Bailey trial, 38-year-old Woodgar was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter

00:50and robbery. In a victim impact statement, Mr Allen's father, Charlie Allen, told

00:58how he watched his son fight for air before he died, and that it had been the worst experience

01:05he believed any father or family should go through. The judge said that she could not be sure Woodgar

01:12was driving the Mercedes or exclude the possibility there were others in the car. However, she noted

01:22his long-standing drug abuse and history of violent offending and the risk of causing harm to the

01:31public in the future. The court heard Woodgar had planned to steal tools and a vehicle and sell them

01:38on to get money to spend on drugs.