She had no respect for cyclists, said teen who ‘killed woman while riding his bike illegally’
A CYCLIST who left a mother-oftwo fatally injured after mowing her down at nearly 20mph later wrote online that she had ‘zero respect’ for bike riders, a court heard.
Charlie Alliston, then 18, was on an ‘Olympic-style’ track bike with no front brake, which should not be used on the road, when he hit Kim Briggs, 44.
The pedestrian was so badly hurt that she died a week later.
Hours after the crash, Alliston wrote a number of online comments claiming he was not at fault – and suggesting Mrs Briggs was to blame for looking at her mobile phone, the Old Bailey was told.
He wrote: ‘I refuse to accept any responsibility in this whatsoever … It’s not my fault people think they are invincible or just have zero respect for cyclists.’
Alliston, now 20, went on trial yesterday charged with manslaughter and causing bodily harm by wanton or furious driving.
It is thought to be the first case of a cyclist being charged with manslaughter over the death of a pedestrian.
He sat yards from Mrs Briggs’s widower as they watched CCTV of the incident in Old Street, east London, just before 1pm
‘Maybe this is the wake-up call you need’
on February 12 last year. Mrs Briggs, of Lewisham, south-east London, had gone for a lunchtime walk close to the office of genealogy website Find My Past, where she worked in human resources.
Duncan Penny QC, prosecuting, said her injuries included two skull fractures and bleeding on the brain. She had two operations at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, but doctors could not save her. She died of an ‘extremely severe brain injury’ on February 19.
The crash was reported by the London Evening Standard on the day it happened. At 5pm, Alliston wrote a message on the newspaper’s website, saying: ‘I can put my hands up and say this is not my fault.’
He blamed Mrs Briggs for looking at her mobile phone and ignoring his shouts.
The next day, he left comments on a cycling website, the London Fixed Gear and Single Speed Forum, writing: ‘I won’t say she deserved it … Yes it is her fault, but no she did not deserve it. Hopefully it is a lesson learned on her behalf.’
Alliston added: ‘If you know the flame will hurt you, yet you still proceed to put your hand over it and get burnt … even when people were helping her, her phone was going off continuously with texts showing she was on it at the time. If you value your phone more than your life, maybe this is the type of wake-up call you need.’
Alliston claimed to have ridden track bikes since 2014. In 2015 he tweeted that taking the brakes off a previous bike was like being ‘in a Lucas Brunelle movie’, referring to an American stunt rider, the court heard.
Mr Penny said Alliston bought his Planet X fixed-wheel track bike for £470 a month before the crash, and told the seller he would not use it on the road. ‘This was a bicycle designed to be ridden on a track. Without a front brake the bike could not be lawfully ridden on a public road,’ the barrister added.
‘Track bikes without a front brake are harder to bring to a halt … That is why you see Chris Hoy and Laura Trott still whizzing around the track long after the finish.’
Mr Penny told the jury they would hear evidence that Alliston was 10m (33ft) from Mrs Briggs when he shouted at her to move. The court will hear a conventional bike with two brakes could have stopped within 3m (10ft). Tests showed a fixed-wheel bike with a front brake could have stopped in 4m (13ft). Passer- by Matthew Shaw told the court he heard Alliston twice shouting, ‘get out of the way’.
The cyclist banged heads with Mrs Briggs at the moment of impact. Alliston shouted at the mother as she lay motionless in the street.
He told police he did not believe he was riding dangerously and simply did not have enough time to stop when she stepped into the road. But Mr Penny said Alliston’s cycling was unlawful and dangerous.
Alliston, of Bermondsey, south-east London, denies the charges. The trial continues.