Fifty-four-year-old Michael Pritchard was a married father of one and had worked as a delivery driver for Business Express for nearly twenty years. He lived in Blurton, Stoke-On-Trent, England.
At three twenty p.m. on Wednesday, November 12th, 1997, Michael was delivering packages at The Cunnery in Kirk Langley when he glanced back and noticed that someone was attempting to steal his van. He rushed back to where he had parked it, trying to get inside, but the thief had locked the doors.
Michael then stood in front of the van to prevent the thief from leaving, but after a moment, the thief simply accelerated and ran over him, dragging him along for some distance. Michael died at the scene from severe head injuries.
According to witness reports, three men were involved in the crime, two of whom were in another van, a Bedford Rascal. Authorities speculated that the trio had probably planned to use Michael’s van in another robbery.
The individual who stole Michael’s vehicle was described as a white male, around twenty years old, standing about five-foot-nine with a medium build. He had a round face, and fair-colored, collar-length hair. The men in the other van were also white males, in their late teens to twenty years old. One of the men had short, light brown hair and may have had a cast on one arm. The other had red hair that was also collar-length and had a noticeable gap in his teeth.
Two individuals—a twenty-six-year-old man and a thirty-six-year-old woman—were arrested in 2003 in connection with the crime, but were eventually released without charge. In 2017, the case was reopened, but as of this writing in December 2024, there appear to have been no further developments.
Crime Immemorial 