Cyclist riding Olympic-style bike blames pedestrian for fatal crash
PA Man blames his victim after she was fatally struck by his track bike on a busy road
Charlie Alliston, then aged 18, was said to be going nearly 20mph when he mowed down mother-of-two Kim Briggs as she crossed Old Street, east London, on February 12 last year. The 44-year-old human resources manager suffered catastrophic head injuries in the collision, and died in hospital a week later as a result of a severe brain injury. In a legal first, Alliston is on trial at the Old Bailey for her manslaughter, as well as charged under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act of causing bodily harm to Mrs Briggs by "wanton or furious driving". The court heard he was riding a "fixie", a fixed wheel track bicycle with no front break, which is not legal on the road.
PA The mother-of-two was killed as she crossed the road in London
They are used by the likes of Sir Chris Hoy and Laura Trott at the Olympics velodrome, but have to be fitted with front brakes before they can be taken on the streets, jurors were told. Prosecutor Duncan Penny QC told jurors that accident investigators had found if Alliston had been riding a bike with front brakes, he would have been able to avoid the collision with Mrs Briggs. The court heard how Mr Alliston was catapulted into the air, but having suffered no injuries, quickly picked himself up and began shouting as his victim as she lay on the ground. Following the crash Alliston posted a comment on an online news article claiming he had shouted out to her but she "ignored me", looked back at her phone then "stopped dead" in his path. He wrote: "I feel bad due to the seriousness of her injuries but I can put my hands up and say this is not my fault." On an internet forum for fixed bike enthusiasts, he later described how he twice warned her to "get the f*** outta my way".
PA Charlie Alliston has been charged with manslaughter
He wrote: "We collided pretty hard, our heads hit together, hers went into the floor and ricocheted into mine. "It is a pretty serious incident so I won't bother saying oh she deserved it, it's her fault. Yes it is her fault but no she did not deserve it. "Hopefully, it is a lesson learned on her behalf, it shouldn't have happened like it did but what more can I say." He complained: "Everyone is quick to judge and help the so-called victim but not the other person in the situation, ie me. "It all happened so fast and even at a slow speed there was nothing I could do. I just wish people would stop making judgments. "It's not my fault people either think they are invincible or have zero respect for cyclists."
PA The victim collided with a fixed wheel track bicycle with no front break
The Old Bailey also heard how Mr Alliston claimed to have been riding track bikes since 2014. Alliston had bought the black PlanetX carbon frame fixed rear pedal cycle in January 2015 for £470, the court heard. Prosecutor Duncan Penny QC said: “The bicycle was not equipped with a front brake and its design does not allow for the installation of a front brake. “This was a bicycle designed to be ridden on a track. Without a front brake the bike could not be lawfully ridden in a public road. “Track bikes without a front brake are harder to bring to a halt than bicycles equipped with brakes. “That is why you see (the Olympians) Chris Hoy and Laura Trott still whizzing around the track long after the finish. “It is one of the kind of bicycles you see being ridden around the velodrome in the Olympics and other events.”
PA The defendant was riding a bike that is not legal on the road
Jurors at the Old Bailey were shown CCTV video of the collision in Alliston's trial, as Mrs Briggs' widower Matthew, from Lewisham, south London, looked on. Mr Penny told jurors: "The Crown suggests that what the defendant was doing - riding a fixed wheel bicycle without a front brake through a busy area of central London at nearly 20mph at lunchtime when hazards, such as pedestrians stepping out into the road, might well be expected to occur in front of him requiring him to react - was dangerous. "What he was doing was such that all sober and reasonable people, knowing the circumstances as he knew them to be, would inevitable recognise it subjected other people to the risk of some harm resulting there from." Matthew Shaw was on his way to buy a Valentine's card in his lunch break when he heard someone repeatedly shout "get out of the way".
GETTY Fixed wheel track bikes are used by Sir Chris Hoy and Laura Trott at the Olympics velodrome