A driver who struck a headteacher cycling home from school and carried on for more than a mile with the fatally injured man trapped beneath his car has been jailed for life for murder.

Simon Richardson, 35, was ordered on Monday to serve a minimum of 25 years in prison after a jury convicted him of murder last week. Sentencing him at Manchester Minshull Street crown court, Mrs Justice Brunner KC said he had shown an "astonishing degree of disregard for human life".

Michael Mullins, 56, a father of two from Northwich in Cheshire, was riding home from Stretford grammar school, which he had led for 17 years, on the evening of 20 April when the Volvo XC90 4x4 Richardson was driving hit him at a junction in the village of Warburton, Trafford. Richardson had ignored give-way signs. Mullins struck the bonnet and windscreen before going under the vehicle and becoming entangled in the suspension.

The trial heard Richardson kept driving, aware the cyclist was just inches beneath his feet, and headed to a secluded farm track in Lymm, 1.3 miles away, in an attempt to dislodge him. After stopping, Richardson twice tried to pull Mullins free, then drove sharply and deliberately from side to side before mounting a grass verge. When Mullins finally came loose, he was driven over again as Richardson reversed and fled.

Richardson, of no fixed address, had denied knowing the cyclist was under his car. But his front-seat passenger, his cousin Gabrielle Debotte, told the court both of them heard "moaning" from outside as they drove away from the collision, and that Richardson went on to say: "He's under the car." Prosecutor Phil Barnes KC said the defendant knew the man was trapped and "inevitably knew what the consequences of driving on would be, and he did it anyway".

A motorcyclist followed a trail of blood from the collision spot and discovered Mullins alone and barely breathing on the verge. Emergency services attended but were unable to save him, and he died from multiple injuries. Members of his family were in tears as the jury delivered its verdict.

Addressing the court on Monday, Mullins's wife, Sarah, said her "past, present and future have been brutally and callously torn apart", describing an "all-consuming lethargy" since his death. She added: "The fact that Michael had to endure such a violent and painful death is an open wound that refuses to heal. I am, we are, completely adrift and bereft without our anchor, Michael Mullins."

The judge told Richardson: "For every moment you carried on, you were knowingly using your heavy vehicle to cause serious injury to a man who was trapped, injured and completely helpless as a result of your actions." She said he did so because he decided escaping the scene of an accident mattered more than a human life.

Barnes told the court Richardson had previous convictions for 28 offences, with a significant history of driving-related crimes, including careless driving and failing to stop or report an accident in 2011, driving with excess alcohol and while disqualified in 2012, driving while disqualified and uninsured in 2013, and driving without a licence and insurance in 2023.

Elizabeth Baxter, acting head of Stretford grammar school, called Mullins an inspirational leader and said it had been an "honour and a privilege" to work alongside him, adding: "He has left a void and a gulf at every level of our school." Det Ch Insp Louise Edwards of Greater Manchester police said Richardson chose to "take Michael's life in one of the most horrific ways I have ever seen", praising the courage of the family and urging people to remember the victim rather than the offender: a man beloved in his community and school who "should have come home safe and sound to his family".