I wasn’t trying to copy film stunts, claims ‘ killer cyclist’
‘Putting himself in danger’
A CyCLiSt accused of killing a mother- of-two by mowing her down on a track bike without front brakes denied yesterday that he was copying a ‘ risktaking’ film-maker.
Charlie Alliston, 20, hit human resources executive Kim Briggs, 44, as she crossed the road on her lunchbreak. She suffered a double fracture to the skull and bleeding to the brain, and died in hospital a week later.
the former courier’s fixed-wheel carbonfibre bike had no front brake and was therefore not legal to be on the road.
Alliston, who is on trial at the Old Bailey charged with manslaughter, took to the witness box yesterday to deny that he copied stunt bike racing scenes from videos made by Lucas Brunelle.
Prosecutor Duncan Penny QC reminded Alliston that he wrote a tweet about removing the front brake from his road bike in february 2015. the cyclist posted: ‘the time when you first take your brakes off and feeling like you’re in a @ LucasBrunelle movie.’
American-born Brunelle is renowned for making stunt ‘alleycat’ movies in major cities including London, where he wears head cameras and cycles ‘dangerously’ by weaving in and out of traffic. Many of his films see him narrowly avoid pedestrians and swerve into bus lanes.
Alliston, who admitted he never wore a helmet when cycling, denied he was trying to copy the film-maker or that he enjoyed ‘taking risks’.
‘i wouldn’t say i drove recklessly or at any time dangerously,’ he said.
But Mr Penny replied: ‘Alleycat races are all about racing in circumstances which are dangerous. Mr Brunelle is all about taking risks – crossing junctions – putting himself in danger. the thing is that you felt when you took your brakes off that you were in one of those films.’
Alliston, then 18, was cycling at 18mph
Mum of two: Victim Kim Briggs when he struck Mrs Briggs in Old Street, central London, on february 12 last year. in a series of online posts, he blamed Mrs Briggs for the tragic accident.
in one he wrote: ‘She put not only hers, but my life in danger.’ Alliston told the court yesterday: ‘i’m not going to stand by them (the posts). i accept it was not thought through and stupid.’
He also claimed he did not know it was a legal requirement to have a front brake, and said it would not have made any difference. ‘i tried to go around her,’ he said. ‘Having a brake, i wouldn’t have had enough time to pull it. it was a few split seconds prior to the impact... so a brake... wouldn’t have made a difference.’
Alliston originally claimed he thought Mrs Briggs was looking down at her mobile phone before the crash, but conceded yesterday that the first time he saw the phone was when it was lying on the road after the collision.
He said he twice shouted a warning to Mrs Briggs to make her ‘aware’ of his presence before the collision.
He added: ‘i was cycling at a safe and reasonable speed personal to myself. i was capable at the time of controlling it.
‘After the collision i just jumped straight back up to my feet, turned around, saw what happened and then went blank.’
Alliston, from Bermondsey, South East London, denies manslaughter and ‘wanton and furious driving’, a crime under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act.
the trial continues.