Martin Eastwood, 22, used a stolen Ford S-Max as a weapon to kill 25-year-old Liam Dent as revenge for a minor collision outside a pub. Having hit Dent, Eastwood, from Surrey Epsom, drove at speeds of up to 32 mph, dragging his victim who was screaming in the early morning hours of July 26, 2019. His friend Daniel Morris, 22, who admitted to negligent homicide, drove back in a Volvo, frantically honking his horn to stop. When Dent was finally released from Ford, he was still conscious but suffering from horrific injuries. His family rushed to the spot in Chessington, south-west London, where he was pronounced dead. Following a trial in Old Bailey, Eastwood was found guilty of murder. On Wednesday, Judge Wendy Joseph sentenced him to life in prison with a minimum sentence of 30 years. The court heard that Eastwood had been convicted of two previous incidents in which he used a car as a weapon. Joseph sentenced Eastwood to simultaneous sentences for grievous bodily harm, attempted grievous bodily harm and robbery. Regarding the murder, he said: “If at first he did not realize that someone was dragged under the car, he should have realized it almost immediately afterwards.” He noted that an expert had said that the presence of a body would have an effect “equivalent to driving with the parking brake open”. The judge said Eastwood must have heard his victim scream. Chronicling Dent’s extensive injuries, he said: “No one should die like this. No mother should sit on the street with her dying son who was injured. There is no way to bypass it: it was a cruel death. “ The judge barred Eastwood from driving for 10 years after his release from prison. Morris, 22, homeless, was jailed for five and a half years for his role in the murder. Eastwood’s girlfriend, Jasmine Robinson, 19, of Epsom, Surrey, was found guilty of aiding and abetting an perpetrator. He was sentenced to two years in prison with a two-year suspension. As Eastwood was convicted, a woman screamed in the public gallery and Dent’s family was moved. Earlier, his mother, Stacey Dent, addressed his killer on the bench as he explained the impact of his death on the family, including his young son. He said: “The night this happened, when I went to my son lying on the street, I could see all of his injuries, Martin, I could see that he had to be in so much pain from start to finish. “I could see immediately, despite the efforts to keep him with us, that he was not going to survive and my heart was completely broken and so it remains. I cry every day. “At first I tried to convince my children that Liam would be conscious when he fell on him. But the evidence went to court and turned out to be the worst it could be. They tortured him and left him dead, screaming for help. “Why couldn’t you stop and save my son’s life?” Prior to the fatal incident, the court heard that in September 2018, Eastwood had driven a stolen vehicle to a cyclist, hitting him on the ground and causing him multiple fractures. In April 2019, he had driven a stolen vehicle to a man, hitting him on the ground and causing him to have abrasions.
