Pedestrian 'Ignored Me' And 'Stopped Dead', Said Cyclist Facing Death Charge

Pedestrian 'Ignored Me' And 'Stopped Dead', Said Cyclist Facing Death Charge

A "dangerous" cyclist knocked down and killed a pedestrian on a busy City street then blamed his victim saying people have "zero respect", a court heard.

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 victim had been on her lunch break when the crash happened.

Alliston was riding a "fixie", a fixed wheel track bicycle with no front break, which is not legal on the road without modification.

He allegedly shouted to her to "get out of the way" twice before their heads smashed together.

Mrs Briggs suffered "catastrophic" brain injuries including two skull fractures and died a week later.

On seeing a newspaper report about the incident, Alliston posted a comment online and claimed he had tried to warn her but she "ignored me" and "stopped dead" in his path.

He wrote: "I feel bad due to the seriousness of her injuries but I can put my hand up and say this is not my fault."

On an internet forum he described how their heads collided and hers "ricocheted" into his.

He wrote: "It is a pretty serious incident so I won't bother saying she deserved it. It was her fault but she did not deserve it."

He went on to claim Mrs Briggs had been on her mobile phone.

He complained: "Everyone is quick to judge and help the so-called victim but not the other person in the situation.

"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.

"People either think they are invincible or have zero respect for cyclists."

Jurors at the Old Bailey were shown CCTV video of the collision in Alliston's trial, as Mrs Briggs' widower Matthew looked on.

The defendant had been riding a black PlanetX carbon frame fixed rear pedal cycle which is more commonly seen racing at the Olympics Velodrome, jurors were told.

Racing bikes known as "fixies" used by the likes of Sir Chris Hoy and Laura Trott can only legally be taken onto the streets if they are fitted with a front brake, jurors were told.

If Alliston had been riding a bike with proper brakes, he would have been able to avoid the collision with the HR consultant, prosecutor Duncan Penny QC said.

Alliston, now 20, of Trothy Road, Bermondsey, south London, has denied a charged under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act of causing bodily harm to Mrs Briggs by wanton or furious driving.

In a legal first, he also faces an additional charge of the manslaughter of mother-of-two Mrs Briggs, of Lewisham, south London.

Mr Penny told jurors Alliston had bought the bicycle for £470 to use on a track in January 2016, but in reality only used it on the road.

Alliston told police he had been riding a fixed wheel bike since 2014, having removed the front brake from a previous model.

In 2015, he tweeted about it saying: "The time when you first take your brakes off and feeling like you're in a @lucasbrunelle movie", in apparent reference to an American bike stunt film-maker.

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".

He told jurors: "I just saw a high impact collision between a cyclist and a lady who appeared to be crossing the road.

"The cyclist seemed to collide with the side of the lady. The lady landed flat on her back.

"He also was knocked over but he stood up whereas the lady didn't and her phone came across the road towards me.

"I went over to the lady on the floor who seemed to be unconscious and unresponsive so I called the ambulance."

While more people came to help, Mr Shaw said a delivery man was "unhelpful" and lowered the back of his van "extremely close" to Mrs Briggs' inert body and continued with his delivery regardless.

Close

What's Hot