Mum 'rammed' off bike 'sometimes' supplied cannabis

A young mother who died on a country road after she was "chased and rammed" off an e-bike by a 4x4, "sometimes" supplied cannabis while her boyfriend drove her around to deliver it, a murder trial has heard.

Alana Armstrong, 25, died at the scene in Batley Lane, near Pleasley, Derbyshire, on 26 November 2024 after Keaton Muldoon made five attempts to hit the bike she was riding, the jury heard.

Ms Armstrong's boyfriend Jordan Newton-Kay, 26, who was injured and had his leg amputated following the crash, said: "[Mr Muldoon] deliberately chased me, deliberately rammed me, and left us for dead."

Mr Muldoon, 23, of Tuckers Lane, Mansfield, in Nottinghamshire, denies murder.

Jurors at Derby Crown Court were told Ms Armstrong bought the Sur-Ron off-road electric bike for her boyfriend, which is not legal for road use and is known to be a "drug-dealing type" bike.

The jury heard Ms Armstrong, Mr Newton-Kay and a friend stopped at a lay-by in Sampsons Lane, near Pleasley, where the Land Rover was parked, and no words were exchanged before the vehicle spun around and "chased" them down the country lane.

On Friday, Adrian Langdale KC, defending Mr Muldoon, cross-examined Mr Newton-Kay, who said his girlfriend of four years "sometimes" supplied cannabis which he drove her around to deliver.

The court heard that before the fatal collision, Ms Armstrong, from Tibshelf, received a message asking if she was available for a "drop off", but Mr Newton-Kay said he was "unsure" if they were going to deliver cannabis that evening.

Mr Langdale KC also told the court Mr Newton-Kay had taken the speed restrictor off the bike to make it go faster.

Mr Newton-Kay denied he thought the 4x4 parked in the field was a police vehicle.

He also denied wearing a balaclava on the evening of the crash and told the court he had not been doing wheelies and pulling out on other drivers before the collision.

Mr Newton-Kay admitted he had smoked cannabis that day, but denied that influenced his recollection of events.

Mr Langdale KC said: "You don't have any helmets on, neither of you. You seemed to suggest to police you didn't, as a general policy, wear helmets.

"You also suggested to the police you would drive, wherever you went, at maximum speed. Forty-six miles an hour to be precise."

Mr Newton Kay admitted it was not a safe way to travel but said he went "trail to trail" and "was not on roads much".

Mr Langdale asked how the pair did not come off the bike if they were hit four previous times.

"Your account of there being four previous rammings... is simply not right, did not happen," he said.

"You have no real memory of how you came off the bike. You undoubtedly came into contact with the car but it was not by him ramming you deliberately."

Mr Newton-Kay replied: "He deliberately chased me, deliberately rammed me, and left us for dead."

The defendant, of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, admitted causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving before the trial begun.

Follow BBC Derby on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.