1 week Ago
A shotgun killer from Peterborough has had an appeal against his murder conviction dismissed by a judge. Lewis Hutchinson, formerly of Eastern Avenue, Dogsthorpe, was found guilty of the murder of drugs runner Mihai Dobre on April 13, 2022, and conspiracy to rob following a trial at Peterborough Crown Court on February 8 last year. Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to Peterborough Telegraph, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you.
Mr Dobre, 29, suffered ‘unsurvivable’ injuries after suffering a gunshot wound to the head in his car – as his wife sat next to him on the passenger side. He died in hospital shortly afterwards. Despite claiming the shotgun had gone off accidentally, Hutchinson was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder with a minimum term of 30 years.
However, two months later, lawyers for Hutchinson, who is in his early 30s, made an appeal against his original conviction on the grounds that the prosecution departed from "proper and established procedure" in calling an accomplice – former co-defendant Christopher Pycroft – as a prosecution witness. Both Hutchinson and Pycroft had initially been charged with Dobre’s murder after planning to steal drugs from him. Hutchinson’s lawyers submitted that there was no place for granting Pycroft immunity from prosecution "by a nod and a wink", and claimed it had caused ‘such unfairness’ to Hutchinson’s defence as to render his conviction unsafe.
They complained that taking a statement from Pycroft whilst he was still under the shadow of prosecution for murder himself meant he had a powerful incentive to give an account implicating Hutchinson and exonerating himself, and made his evidence ‘inherently unreliable’. However, joined by two other appeal judges, Lady Justice Andrews dismissed Hutchinson's challenge following a Court of Appeal hearing on July 16. They pointed out that during the trial, the judge had directed the jury as to the potential unreliability of Pycroft's evidence – but they still returned a unanimous guilty verdict for murder.
Pycroft, of Crabtree, Peterborough, who is in his early 40s had admitted conspiracy to rob and was jailed for five years, three months. Lady Justice Andrews said “the failings by the prosecution in this case are a matter for serious concern”. However, she ruled that Hutchinson’s conviction was “undoubtedly safe”.
On August 28, she explained the appeal panel's reasoning in a detailed written ruling published online. In it, Lady Justice Andrews writes: “The prosecution wrongly believed it could defer taking a decision on the acceptability of Pycroft's guilty plea to the lesser charge of conspiracy to rob until after it knew whether Pycroft's evidence had helped to secure (Hutchinson's) conviction for murder” She went on: “The clear message being conveyed to Pycroft was that if he gave evidence against (Hutchinson), there was a very good chance that the prosecution would drop the murder charge against him." The judge added that the prosecution’s “wait and see” position with Pycroft was "wholly impermissible".
Shortly after midnight on April 13, 2022, Mihai Dobre drove his car to a ;rendezvous; in a residential area of Peterborough with a prospective customer who had rung his drugs line. His wife was next to him in the passenger seat. When they arrived, Pycroft (whose mobile phone had been used to make the call) and Hutchinson approached the car.
Pycroft went to the driver's window and engaged Dobre in conversation. Hutchinson moved towards the rear of the vehicle and donned gloves, a mask and a hood. Sensing that something was amiss, Dobre started to drive away.
As he did so, Hutchinson fired the shotgun through the rear driver's side window, hitting Dobre in the back of the head. Dobre's wife heard the glass shatter and saw his head fall back towards the headrest. His foot was already on the accelerator and he tried to pull the handbrake off.
The vehicle continued to move slowly along the street and rolled onto the footpath, coming to a stop some 150 yards away. Dobre lapsed into unconsciousness. His wife called for help, and a number of residents came out of their houses to give assistance.
The police and an ambulance were called. Dobre died in hospital some hours later. Part of the incident, though not the shooting, was captured on CCTV footage .
As Hutchinson and Pycroft ran off, witnesses overheard someone shout: "I can't believe you just did that" and "why did you shoot them?" The shotgun was taken from the scene. 999 calls made by a witness who lived locally, and who knew Hutchinson well, placed him near the scene before and after the shooting carrying something which they believed to be a metal pole. As the trial progressed, the jury heard from Christopher Pycroft, who told them he and Hutchinson had been at his house in the hours leading up to the fatal shooting.
He said the pair had smoked crack cocaine, before coming up with a plan to rob a drugs runner. Pycroft told the jury Hutchinson had gone to get a ‘tool,’ before returning a short while later with a shotgun. He told the jury that the plan had been for Hutchinson to threaten the drugs runner with the gun.
However, a shot was fired. After the incident, Hutchinson fled the scene, going to stay with his grandmother in Skegness, where he was arrested. Hutchinson was said to have showed no emotion as he stood in the dock and the verdict for murder was read out.
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