The family of Michael Mullins have paid tribute to their “anchor” and “everything” after a man was found guilty of murdering the headteacher as he cycled home from school.
His wife described the family as “completely bereft and adrift”, while his children remembered a father who was always there - from cheering on the rugby sidelines to collecting them from concerts and holidays.
Their tributes were released by Greater Manchester Police after Simon Richardson, 35, of no fixed abode, was convicted of murder today, following a two-week trial.
Mr Mullins, 56, was cycling home from Stretford Grammar School on April 20 when Richardson’s car struck him in Warburton, near Altrincham. Richardson drove away with the headteacher trapped beneath the vehicle.
He will be sentenced on Monday November 2 at 2pm.
Mr Mullins’s wife said the loss had devastated every part of her life.
“My past, present and future have been brutally and callously torn apart. My memories of being with Michael through the rough and the smooth are now permanently tainted with sadness,” she said.
“Michael is irreplaceable to family, friends and the school. There is no one quite like him with his myriad of unique qualities that combined to make him mean so much to so many people.
“I am, we are, completely bereft and adrift without our anchor, Michael Mullins.”
His son remembered a father whose support had remained constant throughout his life.
“He was the type of Dad that would show up to everything. He would drive me to every rugby game on a Sunday and was always there to cheer me on from the sidelines,” he said.
That encouragement continued into adulthood, with his father regularly telling him how proud he was.
“Our last exchange of words together before he dropped me at the station was him reminding me of how proud he was of me.”
Mr Mullins’s daughter recalled his love of music and how he had been learning to play the guitar.
“He loved to pick us up from the airport after a holiday to be the first to hear about it and growing up would always offer to pick me and my friends up from concerts to make sure we got home,” she said.
“I made a promise in those first days that I would live the rest of my life for my dad and give myself the life he had started to see me grow into and wanted for me.
“I am here telling you all that my Dad was and always will be our everything.”
Detective Chief Inspector Louise Edwards, the senior investigating officer, praised the family’s courage throughout the trial and thanked members of the public who searched for Mr Mullins and tried to help him.
“To know that someone was with him helped to give his family a glimmer of comfort during this incredible tragedy,” she said.
She urged people to remember the man who had spent 17 years leading Stretford Grammar School.
“Remember Michael - beloved in his community, his school, by his family and friends— a man who should have come home safe and sound to his family but will be remembered forever in the legacy he has left behind.”
