‘Distracted’ lorry driver killed royal designer as she cycled to palace
A SCOTS designer appointed by the Queen to restore Windsor Castle was crushed to death by a lorry as she cycled to work, a court heard.
Moira Gemmill, 55, suffered catastrophic injuries when she was struck at a roundabout on her way to St James’s Palace in central London.
The Campbeltown-born former director of design at the Victoria and Albert Museum died instantly, after the lorry driver failed to see her in his mirrors, jurors were told.
She had recently started a new role with the royals, overseeing the modernisation of priceless collections at Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
Yesterday, an Old Bailey jury was shown harrowing footage of the moment she was hit near Lambeth Bridge, Westminster. James Kwatia, 42, is accused of causing her death.
Prosecutor Mark Gadsden said he failed to use his mirrors properly and paid
‘Should have known she was there’
insufficient attention to cyclists as he reached the end of the bridge. He described how the driver pulled across to his left as he approached the roundabout, leaving no room for the designer.
Miss Gemmill, who grew up on a remote farm on the Kintyre peninsula before going on to study design and photography at Glasgow School of Art, was declared dead at the scene.
The prosecutor told jurors that Kwatia would have been able to see her in his mirrors for around eight seconds as he crossed the bridge. He should have been aware of her presence and continued to straddle two traffic lanes to give her sufficient room, the court heard.
Mr Gadsden said: ‘Miss Gemmill would have been visible to him in his near-side mirrors as she was coming up on the near side.
‘If he remained in that position this accident never would have occurred. We say it was his driving that was the cause of the accident.’
The tragedy took place on a ‘dry, clear and sunny morning’ on April 9, 2015, as Miss Gemmill travelled to work from her home in Kennington, south London.
She crossed Lambeth Bridge from the east side, riding in the bike lane with another cyclist behind her.
But jurors were told the lane ends near the roundabout and footage showed her passing Kwatia’s lorry as they both approached the junction. Mr Gadsden said: ‘His lorry is in the centre of the lane, but coming on to the roundabout itself he cuts right across to the left and therefore allows the cyclist no room.
‘As he accelerates away, the cyclist is swept under the lorry and tragically crushed to death.’
Although a witness said Kwatia was preoccupied with traffic on the roundabout, he told police he was aware of cyclists around him.
Mr Gadsden said his driving fell below that of a ‘careful and competent road user’, adding: ‘He should have known she was there and taken reasonable avoiding action.’
Just months earlier, Miss Gemmill had been hand-picked by the Queen for her role as director of design at the Royal Collection Trust. She previously served 13 years at the V&A where she was credited with a massive boost in visitors after a radical overhaul of the galleries. She was a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, an honorary fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and regularly judged design awards.
The tragedy was the latest in a string of cyclist deaths in the capital. Earlier this month, two more were killed in the space of 24 hours.
Anita Szucs, 30, died in an apparent hit-and-run in Enfield, while Karla Roman, 32, was crushed under a coach on a cycle superhighway in Whitechapel, east London.
Kwatia, from Catford, south-east London, denies causing death by careless driving.
The trial continues.