Thief who murdered Bristol OAP jailed for life

A Bristol car thief has been jailed for a minimum 16 years after being convicted of murdering 76-year-old Walter Bollen - crushing him beneath the wheels of his Skoda as he tried to take it.

Bristol Crown Court heard former Rolls Royce engineer Mr Bollen was opening security gates in order to park when banned driver Scott Couch jumped in and tried to get away.

When the OAP attempted to wrench the younger man from the driver's seat he was flung to the ground and witnesses saw the car reverse, before being driven over his body.

Couch, aged 23, of Denny Isle Drive, Severn Beach, denied murder on November 29 last year. He had a plethora of previous convictions from burglary and theft to aggravated vehicle taking, dangerous driving and assaults on police.

A jury of seven women and five men took just under three hours to unanimously find him guilty on Tuesday.

Imposing a mandatory life sentence The Honourable Mrs Justice Cox DBE told him: "Walter Bollen was 76 years old when he died.

"A king, gentle and thoroughly decent man, who enjoyed an active live and the company of many friends, and who brought happiness into other people's lives."

He will continue to be sadly missed by all who knew and loved him, no sentence I impose can restore him to them."

Earlier Mr Bollen's niece Janet Morley, 55, a retired nursery nurse of Denshaw (corr) in Lancashire, said: "Walt was a kind, considerate, thoroughly decent man who was taken away from us when he was enjoying life so much.

"The pleasure he got from his many activities and circle of friends, we had never seen him happier.

"To lose him in such tragic circumstances will live with us all for the rest of our lives.

"At the end of the day this young man should have been locked up for stealing cars, then this wouldn't have happened.

"I definitely think it's the right verdict; I don't really want to say anything about Scott Couch, because I think I would regret what I'd say."

Mr Bollen's nephew David Morley, 63, said: "It was just a terrible way to go. He had such a good social life, a really good life for a man of his age. He was fit and to die like that is terrible, unbelievable.

"We'd just like to thank the police for their hard work, as well as the people who came forward."

Michael Fitton QC, prosecuting, told the court widower Mr Bollen lived alone alone in Montreal Avenue, Horfield, after his wife Rita died more than ten years previously.

He said: "He was fit and active and one activity he did was sequence dancing. When his wife was alive he and she regularly went sequence dancing throughout Bristol."

Mr Fitton said that, after a break following his wife's death, Mr Bollen resumed his hobby and on the night in question had been dancing with Julia Paul at Hanham Folk Centre.

After dropping her at her Southville home at 11.15pm he was going home but never got there, the court heard.

Mr Fitton said: "He died later that night, around midnight, yards from his front door.

"He was run over and crushed beneath the wheels of his own Skoda, driven over him by this defendant."

Mr Fitton told the jury that, on the evening, Couch had been out with friends but split from them before ending up in Horfield late at night.

After visiting an address in Green Close and calling for a friend, the court heard, Couch was seen to walk by a group of lads who were in a taxi, about to head into town.

Members of that group also noticed an elderly driver enter the close in a silver car and get out, the jury heard.

Mr Fitton said: "It was no more than a coincidence of fate that Walter Bollen drove into the Close when the defendant was there. They didn't know each other.

"The evidence is that Scott Couch took it upon himself to take the Skoda driven by Walter Bollen.

"The opportunity would have appeared to have arisen in the short period of time it took for Mr Bollen to get through the gates into the car park which led to his own home."

Mr Fitton said Mr Bollen would have had to stop his car, get out, enter a code into a key pad and then open the gates.

He said: "It might take a minute to carry out that process. Time enough for somebody who's bold enough and quick enough to take the chance to climb into the driving seat and take control of the car.

"That bold individual, that quick individual, was this defendant."

The jury heard that a number of witnesses saw what unfolded, from the older man struggling with the man in the car, the car reversing and a "bang" before it was driven off at speed.

Witness Lisa Hill saw a man lying in the road and a man standing in front of the automatic Skoda Octavia, the jury heard.

Mr Fitton said: "The choice Scott Couch made was crucial for Walter Bollen.

"What Lisa Hill saw Scott Couch do was that he got back in the car, he put it in gear and he drove the car forwards. He drove over the body of Walter Bollen; she saw the car struggling to get over the body, both the wheels."

Though neighbours and police tried help Mr Bollen, paramedics who rushed to the scene pronounced him dead at just gone midnight.

A post mortem examination later revealed he had suffered a fractured skull, broken ribs, a collapsed lung and major injuries to crucial organs including his heart.

Mr Fitton said the Skoda was found abandoned in nearby Shakespeare Avenue, with a damaged driver's door and wing.

When Couch was arrested he denied being at the wheel, but later conceded that he did take the car, he drove the car when it went over the pensioner but he denied murder.

Couch, one of eight children, had moved to Severn Beach to be with his girlfriend Laura Adams and was said to be a valued employee doing warehouse work.

Andrew Langdon QC, defending, said his client had not deliberately targeted Mr Bollen because of his age.

Detective Inspector Guy Turner, the police officer in charge of the case, said: "Couch knew exactly what he was doing, he is a very dangerous and violent individual and his behaviour during the trial was absolutely appalling.

"The jury has seen him for what he is; an arrogant individual who thought he could get away with it."