A businesswoman was jailed for life today for murdering an e-bike rider with whom she was in a ‘feud’ by ramming him with her Range Rover.
Zoe Treadwell, 36, took the law into her ‘own hands’ when she killed Joey Johnstone after chasing him at speeds of up to 75mph on residential roads and ramming him from his bike in April last year.
Mr Johnstone, 28, was one of three men who were ‘targeted, located, hunted and then mown down’ by Treadwell or others ‘doing her bidding’.
In a second ‘grim’ attack several weeks after the first, Treadwell had an associate – Jonjay Harrison, 25 – pursue her ex-boyfriend, Josh Lovell, and ram him into him with a Mercedes, knocking off passenger Free Jenkins, 30, at the same time.
The ‘grudge’ was said to have involved numerous people in Bournemouth and first erupted after Treadwell had an acrimonious break-up with Mr Lovell.
The mother-of-three – who was found guilty of murder last month – today received a life sentence with a minimum term of 35 years.
The public gallery , at Winchester Crown Court erupted in cheers and clapping when Treadwell’s sentence was announced, with one person shouting: ‘May you rot in hell, Zoe.’
Treadwell was also convicted of the attempted murder of her former partner, and causing grievous bodily harm with intent against Mr Jenkins in the second incident on May 1.
Mr Jenkins suffered life-changing injuries, including the amputation of part of his leg.
Jonjay Harrison, 25, was also convicted of the same charges against Mr Lovell and Mr Jenkins.
He was jailed for life with a minimum of 32 years.
Sentencing Treadwell, Mr Justice Thomas Linden said: ‘I accept for the present purposes that he was goading you by cycling in circles around your house.’
He said that Mr Johnstone’s children had been ‘left fatherless by your actions’.
The judge continued: ‘Your response was wholly unjustified and disproportionate – you are not entitled to take the law into your own hands, you could have stayed in the house and called the police.’
Businesswoman Zoe Treadwell, 36, was found guilty of murdering an e-bike rider after she ‘hunted him’ in her Range Rover and mowed him down at 75mph
Joey Johnstone, 28, was ‘hunted’ down and rammed off his e-bike by Treadwell as part of an ongoing feud
Jonjay Harrison, 25, was also convicted of the same charges against Treadwell’s her ex-boyfriend, Josh Lovell, and his passenger Free Jenkins
A victim impact statement read to the court on behalf of Mr Johnstone’s partner Sophie Quinn said that their children were ‘confused’ as to why their ‘daddy’ was not coming home.
Ms Quinn said that their five-year-old daughter shouts ‘daddy’s home’ whenever she hears noise at the door, while their nine-year-old son ‘cries himself to sleep’.
She said she has suffered with PTSD, anxiety, depression and insomnia since Mr Johnstone’s death.
‘The mental burden of what was done to everyone around me has been mentally challenging – how can I support them when I’m broken?’ she said.
Ms Quinn said: ‘On the 9th April, our lives changed for the worse.
‘Joey, going on a bike ride for the evening to to never return home, to have my soulmate taken away from me.’
The family were planning to go on a four-week ‘holiday of a lifetime’ in May 2025.
‘At 30 years old, I had to plan the love of my life’s funeral instead of travelling the world as a family,’ she said.
Michelle Rush, Mr Johnstone’s mother, said in a statement read to the court by the prosecutor on her behalf that her son was ‘proud as punch to be a father’.
Ms Rush said her ‘head is a complete mess’, and she is on medication for anxiety and depression.
She said: ‘I will finally be at peace when I’m back in the arms of my son.
‘For now, I’m trying to get through this after all that she has destroyed.’
Opening the case for the prosecution last year, Sarah Jones said there was ‘ill-feeling’ between Mr Lovell and his associates and Treadwell and her associates, which led the defendants to think ‘they were entitled to use any methods to instil fear, to teach people a lesson’.
‘They have sought to obliterate their enemies and the weapons with which they chose to do that have been cars,’ she said.
Police and forensics teams at the scene of one of the attacks in April
Three men were ‘targeted, located, hunted and then mown down’ by Treadwell or others ‘doing her bidding’
The prosecutor continued: ‘In the early hours of April 9, 2025, and in the afternoon of May 1, 2025, there occurred two horrific collisions – in each instance a car was driven deliberately and with shocking aggression into young men driving e-bikes.
‘The men had been pursued by the vehicles, chased around the streets of East Howe in Bournemouth and then rammed with the vehicles.
‘The consequences were unsurprisingly extremely severe.’
The crash which killed Mr Johnstone happened on April 9 2025 on South Kinson Drive in Bournemouth, when Mr Johnstone and a friend were out riding their e-bikes.
Treadwell left her house at 1.44am and soon afterwards a CCTV camera caught a ‘chase’ which showed her Range Rover travelling at ‘wildly inappropriate speeds’.
Mr Johnstone was knocked off and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Then, on April 27, Treadwell sent Harrison a message saying ‘bring me Josh Lovell too begging’ and offered him some cash.
Harrison replied: ‘I can get josh easy but got to sort it through someone’.
Harrison was driving a Mercedes on May 1 when he came across Mr Lovell riding a bike with Mr Jenkins on the back and ‘seized the opportunity’ to pursue him at speeds of up to 48mph, the prosecutor said.
Following the sentencing, Kate Lewis, senior district crown prosecutor of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: ‘These acts represent an appalling disregard for human life. On two separate occasions, a car was used as a weapon against three men, acts that were not accidents but intentional attempts to kill.
‘Tragically, one of these attacks resulted in the loss of a young life, causing immeasurable pain to loved ones and the wider community.
‘Joey Johnstone’s family lost a beloved partner, dad, and friend. Others were left with serious and life-changing injuries. Our thoughts remain with them all.
‘We worked closely with Dorset Police to establish a compelling case demonstrating that the victims were deliberately identified, located, pursued, and ultimately harmed by Zoe Treadwell and Jonjay Harrison.
‘The Crown Prosecution Service is committed to ensuring that offenders who bring senseless violence to our communities are prosecuted and face the full weight of the law.’
Two other defendants, Taylor Warwick, 18, and a 17-year-old boy, were found not guilty of murder, the alternative charge of manslaughter.