POLICE PROBE STARMER PRANG
Cyclist taken to hospital after collision with Labour leader – who was on way to dry cleaner he shares with Jude Law
SIR Keir Starmer was facing a string of questions last night after he collided with a cyclist on his way to see a dry cleaner beloved by A-list stars.
The Labour leader was driving his SUV to the Stitch & Clean alterations shop, which serves celebrities including Jude Law and Gillian Anderson, before the prang at midday on Sunday.
The cyclist – who was taken to hospital in an ambulance after the accident, clutching his arm – reportedly shouted at Sir Keir: ‘How did you not see me?’ Police are now investigating the incident. Sir Keir is facing a series of questions over his account of the crash near his north London home – and whether he spoke to police before leaving the scene. A witness told the Mail that the former barrister’s Toyota RAV4 was ‘ in the middle of the road’ at the time of the collision, after attempting to perform a U-turn ahead of a junction outlawing right-hand turns. Turning right at the end of the road would have taken Sir Keir to his appointment at Stitch & Clean.
A Labour Party source claimed that Sir Keir had pulled in to park. The site of the incident – Grafton Road in Kentish Town – has doubleyellow lines on both sides, with only permit holders allowed to park there.
In a statement issued yesterday morning, Sir Keir’s office claimed he had spoken to a ‘British Transport Police officer who attended the scene’ before leaving,
However, it later emerged that Sir Keir had actually spoken to an off-reversed duty member of staff – understood to be a community support officer, who was not in uniform and happened to witness the crash.
In fact, while the former director of public prosecutions exchanged details with the cyclist, he left before two Metropolitan Police officers arrived. The pair then went to Sir Keir’s home and left a note asking him to report to a police station for questioning. He did so within hours.
An investigation by the Roads and Transport Policing Command is now under way.
A witness told the Mail that Sir Keir was ‘in the middle’ of Grafton Road at the time of the crash.
‘The cyclist hit the car from the driver’s side. The side door was damaged and it was scuffed,’ he said.
‘When I went over to see what happened I heard the cyclist say: “How did you not see me?” Sir Keir then his car and parked up. He looked like he’d just come back from the gym and was wearing a black bomber jacket.
‘I went to finish taking the shopping inside and within ten minutes he was gone. The cyclist was nearly in tears, holding his left arm in pain. If I was to do that I’d get in trouble. I can’t believe he had left so early.’
Stitch & Clean’s owner, Renzo Khan, said Sir Keir was one of many VIP clients – including his predecessor as Labour leader, Ed Miliband.
Asked whether he had made it to their Sunday appointment, Mr Khan said ‘his personal secretary called saying he was unable to come’, adding that the politician visited him on Monday instead.
‘I saw on the internet about the crash and realised that was why he had cancelled.’
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said of the crash: ‘The driver of the car stopped at the scene and exchanged details with the cyclist but had left before officers arrived.
‘The male cyclist received a minor injury to his arm and was taken to hospital as a precaution.
‘The driver of the car subsequently attended a north London police station. He was not arrested or interviewed under caution.’
In December, Sir Keir unveiled his proposals to make England ‘one of the safest cycling and walking friendly places in the world’.
Yesterday Donnachadh McCarthy of campaign group Stop Killing Cyclists, called on him to learn from the incident, saying: ‘We hope this crash will be a wake-up call... that the Labour Party needs to do far more to hold the Government to account for failing to invest the £6billion per year needed for protected cycling infrastructure, as advocated by the United Nations.’
‘How did you not see me?’