One of the men accused of murdering a cyclist in a hit-and-run as a drug feud escalated told his mother he was ‘guilty’ in a phone call recorded while he was on remand.
Joey Matthews had a heated argument with his mother where he continually abused her before making the admission that he was responsible for the death of Carl Eland.
The 37-year-old father-of-four was knocked from his bike as he cycled through Middlesbrough in August last year.
A transcript of the accused’s phone call was read out at Teesside Crown Court, in it, Matthews said: “I’m looking at 25 years you daft cow.”
His mother said: “You’re not though are you because you’re not guilty, are you?”
Matthews replied: “Yeah, I f****** am though, aren’t I.”
Read more: Cyclist left bleeding from head, nose and ears after being involved in hit-and-run
Jurors heard how the 21-year-old continually harangued his mother throughout the recorded telephone call and demanded that she transfer his money from her bank account.
Mattews and Brandon Ali are accused of deliberately ramming into Mr Eland as a drug feud descended into violence.
Ian Maughan, who has since died of a suspected drug overdose, initially took responsibility for the crash before retracting his statement and identifying Matthews and Brandon Ali as the two people in the Vauxhall Insignia in August last year.
During police interview, Mr Maughan said the pair plied him with crack cocaine before persuading him to call police and say he was the driver of the car that was involved in the fatal collision that killed Carl Eland.
Transcripts of his interviews were read out at Teesside Crown Court as the prosecution case came to an end.
Craig Hassall QC, prosecuting, told jurors that the two defendants lavished £900 worth of clothing on Mr Maughan and promised to clear his drug debt to them if he took the rap for them.
Jurors heard how the witness had met up with Brandon Ali on three occasions to discuss the plan for him to take the blame for the fatal incident.
In a final police interview, Mr Maughan told officers how he had been persuaded to take the blame but wanted to now tell them the truth about what happened.
He said: “They said they were going for petrol but they had noticed Carl on the left and obviously that it when they have run him over.
“They have rammed him off the bike.”
The officer asked ‘is that what they said?’ and ‘who told you that?’ – Mr Maughan replied: “Yeah. It was Brandon.”
The witness said he was offered cash and clothes to take responsibility as well as having his drug debt written off.
Earlier in the trial, jurors heard how there had been an ongoing dispute between Mr Eland and Matthews in the months leading up to the cyclist’s death.
And his sister, Gemma Eland, had an online argument with Matthews as her brother laid in hospital after suffering catastrophic head injuries.
The 37-year-old died when he was knocked from a bike in the Homerton Road and Gribdale Road area of Middlesbrough on August 21, 2021.
Mr Eland, a dad-of-four from North Ormesby, died five days. His 24-year-old girlfriend Kassi Weir who was riding on the bike's handlebars was also injured.
Ali, 21, of Dalwood Court in Hemlington and Matthews, 21, of Newcomen Green, Longlands, in Middlesbrough, both deny murder and attempted GBH with intent.
The trial continues on Tuesday (August 16).
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