Woman jailed for murdering e-bike rider with Range Rover in case of mistaken identity in Bournemouth

A woman has received a life sentence for murder after ploughing into an e-bike rider with her Range Rover in a case of mistaken identity.

Zoe Treadwell, 36, hit speeds of 75mph chasing Joey Johnstone, 28, down residential streets before striking him and leaving him for dead.

Winchester Crown Court heard how she tried to "obliterate" the father-of-three by hitting him with the two-tonne vehicle in Bournemouth, Dorset, on 9 April last year.

Police said Mr Johnstone was targeted in a case of mistaken identity - with Treadwell believing he was her former partner, Joshua Lovell, who also rode an e-bike.

Mr Johnstone was pronounced dead at the scene after suffering a traumatic head injury.

Less than a month later, on 1 May, after realising she had killed the wrong person, she recruited co-defendant Jonjay Harrison, 25, to kill her ex-boyfriend instead.

She paid him £1,000 to run him over in his Mercedes C180, the court heard.

Mr Lovell survived but another man, Free Jenkins, 30, was severely hurt and had to have his left leg amputated above the knee.

Treadwell was also convicted of the attempted murder of Mr Lovell and causing grievous bodily harm with intent against Mr Jenkins.

She must serve a minimum of 35 years.

Harrison was convicted of the same charges as Treadwell in relation to the offences involving Mr Lovell and Mr Jenkins in the 1 May incident. He also pleaded guilty to possessing a knife in a public place.

He was jailed for 32 years.

Sarah Jones KC, prosecuting, told the trial: "Both collisions were engineered as a consequence of a long-running grudge or feud, call it what you will.

"They have sought to obliterate their enemies and the weapons with which they chose to do that were their cars."

The sentences were greeted with cheers and applause from people in the public gallery with one woman shouting out: "May you rot in hell Zoe, you skank."

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Sophie Quinn, who had two children with Mr Johnstone, said in a victim impact statement read to the court that she was "heartbroken" by his death.

She said: "On 9 April our lives changed for the worse, Joey innocently going out for a bike ride in the evening to never return home, my soulmate taken away from me forever."

She added that she had suffered anxiety since her partner's death and said: "Just to think I will never be able to hear his voice or see him, breaks my heart."

Mr Johnstone's mother, Michelle Rush, said: "I never knew what true love was until I gave birth to my perfect son" and added that he had grown into a "beautiful man with the biggest heart".

Sentencing Treadwell, the judge, Mr Justice Linden, said to her: "You were totally indifferent as to whether Joey Johnstone lived or died, you made no attempt to assist him or summon assistance for him."

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