Teen cyclist ‘shouted at dying victim’ after crash

A CYCLIST who ran over a mother of two on his track bike, which had no front brake, shouted at her as she lay fatally injured in the street, a court heard yesterday.

Charlie Alliston, then 18, was riding a fixed-wheel, track-style bicycle when he crashed into Kim Briggs, 44, as she crossed the road while on her lunch break.

Mrs Briggs died a week later from head injuries. Alliston’s bike should not have been on the road as it had no front brake.

Police tests after the accident in East London found the cycle took four times longer to stop than a police mountain bike fitted with normal brakes, the Old Bailey was told.

During police interviews Alliston accused Mrs Briggs, from Lewisham, South East London, of being responsible for the crash in February last year because she was checking her mobile phone as she crossed the road and had not seen him.

He denied riding dangerously, adding: ‘I do believe the result would have been the same if I was to have a brake.’ He admitted having taken the front brake off a previous bike.

Prosecutor Duncan Penny, QC, read out a statement from witness David Callan, who said: ‘I heard a shout... like a warning or alert. It made me look up immediately, just in time to see a collision between a cyclist and a pedestrian.

‘The cyclist flew through the air and the pedestrian fell. The cyclist quickly sprang to their feet and shouted something at the pedestrian.

‘But the cyclist froze after taking that initial step, seeing the pedestrian was still lying on the ground.’

Crash investigators concluded Alliston would have been able to stop in time on a bike with a front brake.

Mrs Briggs’s husband Matthew watched in court as CCTV of the collision was shown to jurors frame by frame. Forensic crash investigator PC Edward Small calculated Alliston was 20ft to 30ft from Mrs Briggs and travelling at 18mph. Tests showed his bike would have taken at least 36ft to stop. A similar model with a front brake could have stopped in 12ft and a mountain bike in 9ft.

Mark Wyeth, QC, defending, said Mrs Briggs stepped into the road while looking at her phone ten yards from a pedestrian crossing. Alliston was a courier who had ridden fixedwheel bicycles since 2014.

Alliston, now 20, of Bermondsey, London, denies manslaughter and causing grievous harm by wanton and furious driving. The trial continues.