BEFORE Bradley Blundell murdered John Pordage, his night started with a plot to steal a motorbike.
Blundell; Saul Stanley, 18; and a 16-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons planned to steal a motorbike from an address in Brentwood.
However, because they could not drive at the time, they needed someone to get them to the vehicle from Chelmsford.
They asked Ella Colgate, who was then 18, to drive her blue Ford Fiesta to the motorbike on the evening of August 4, in exchange for £40.
The group travelled in convoy back to Chelmsford, with the unnamed boy riding the bike. They eventually stopped at a petrol station in Chelmer Village to fill up.
However, none of the pay at pump machines would accept any of their payment cards. After failing to fill up the motorbike, the group left the vehicle at the garage.
They then travelled to the petrol station in Baddow Road, where they encountered Mr Pordage and his friend Jamal Samuels, who had left a bar in Chelmsford city centre, and were driving to buy cigarettes and a Lucozade.It is believed Mr Pordage or Mr Samuels had made a comment towards Colgate, saying something to the effect of “nice bum”, which the boys, including Blundell, took exception to.
Detective Chief Inspector Martin Pasmore said: “From speaking to Colgate and getting some basic information, we realised that she was in the car with her friend, Florence Lawes. They opened up to us about what happened that night.”
In the back of the Fiesta were the three boys. He added: “These lads in this car were the key individuals we really needed to get a grip of, as soon as we could.”
CCTV footage showed Mr Pordage and Mr Samuels laughing at what they considered to be “light-hearted banter”, and they thought no more of it.
After a scuffle broke out, footage does not show what happened, except for Mr Pordage falling to the ground outside the forecourt.
His body laid near to a memorial that has been placed at the scene.
A message on the memorial states: “The tears in our eyes we can wipe away, the ache in our hearts will always stay.”
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