'Irreplaceable' head teacher mourned after murder

"Michael was my safety net," said Sarah Mullins as she described the loss of her husband, a head teacher who was murdered while cycling home from work.

Michael Mullins, 56, loved music, was learning to play the guitar and would collect his daughter and her friends from concerts to make sure they got home safely.

Colleagues said he had transformed Stretford Grammar School in Trafford, Greater Manchester, after becoming head teacher in 2009, when it was in special measures, and that his death had left "a void at every level".

The tributes were heard at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court as Simon Richardson, 35, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 25 years for murdering Mr Mullins on 20 April.

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Richardson struck Mr Mullins with his car in Warburton, Greater Manchester, before driving for more than a mile with the injured cyclist trapped underneath.

Sarah described the many roles her husband had played in family life.

"Michael was a cook, chauffeur, finance expert, quick to laugh and generous with time and money," she told Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court.

"My past, present, and future have been brutally and callously torn apart."

Their son, Harry, described his father as his best friend.

"Dad wanted to make the world a better place," he said.

"He was the type of dad who would show up to everything."

Mr Mullins's daughter, Maisie, described him as "the hardest-working person I have ever and will ever know".

She said her father had at least nine years before retirement and reflected on the generations of pupils who would now miss out on his leadership.

"That is nine cohorts that have been deprived of him," she said.

Mr Mullins became head teacher of Stretford Grammar School in 2009, when it was in special measures, the court heard.

Acting head Elizabeth Baxter described his impact as "truly transformative" and said he was determined to raise standards and expectations.

She credited Mr Mullins with securing a new school building project and said he had wanted more pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds to have the opportunity to attend.

Ms Baxter said colleagues now found it "unbearably sad" to attend meetings about the building project without him.

"As a community, not just led by Michael but bound together by him, his death was devastating," she said.

"I saw students and staff in tears. Students became accustomed to seeing their teachers in tears."

Flowers were laid outside the school, with some people climbing the gates to leave tributes after it had closed.

At his funeral, mourners stood outside in the pouring rain to pay their respects, Ms Baxter said.

"Michael had a reach and an impact which stretched far beyond our school gates," she said.

But it was also in the familiar routines of school life that his absence continued to be felt.

"Students don't have him standing on the front gate any longer. The staff don't have him in his office anymore with the door open," Ms Baxter said.

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