Lorry killed Queen’s top designer on ‘dodgy’ road
A CYCLIST who witnessed a Scots royal designer being crushed under the wheels of a tipper truck has told a court the road layout was ‘dodgy’.
Luke Healey said he saw nearly the same thing happen again a few weeks after Moira Gemmill, 55, was knocked off her bike.
She was riding to work at St James’ Palace when she was struck on the approach to a roundabout from Lambeth Bridge in south London.
Miss Gemmill – hand-picked by the Queen to oversee renovations at Windsor Castle as the director of design at the Royal Collection Trust – was swept under the wheels of the Mercedes lorry and died instantly on the morning of April 9, 2015.
Driver James Kwatia, 42, allegedly failed to give her enough room when he swung across to the kerb and was ‘preoccupied’ with oncoming traffic.
CCTV footage captured Miss Gemmill, wearing dark clothing, and Mr Healey, in a hi-vis jacket, going across the bridge on the cycle lane past slow-moving traffic at 9.30am.
The lane ended before the roundabout and Miss Gemmill – raised on a farm on the Kintyre peninsula before attending Glasgow School of Art – cycled past the truck before it accelerated and ran her over.
Mr Healey told jurors he often tried to avoid that route to work, saying: ‘It’s a dodgy bridge. The cycle lane is narrow and that [approach] is a key point. I was aware it was a pinch point. After the events I saw nearly the same thing happen.’
Mr Healey said he had deliberately hung back to avoid cycling alongside the truck. He told the court he thought Miss Gemmill was in a ‘blind spot’ and was riding her bike ‘in an absent-minded way’. He said he stopped and called 999.
Another witness, a pedestrian on his way to the dentist, said he thought Miss Gemmill lost her balance as the truck went past and fell under the wheels. He also told of seeing it drive over her head.
The prosecution claims Kwatia was concentrating on traffic coming around the roundabout instead of paying attention to cyclists.
Prosecutor Mark Gadsden said Kwatia either failed to use his mirrors properly so as to be aware of cyclists or did not afford them enough room. He added: ‘His careless driving was the cause of the fatal accident and death.’
Jurors have been told to set aside their emotions after two cyclists were killed in less than 24 hours in London this month. Anita Szucs, 30, died in a suspected hit-and-run as she cycled home in Enfield, while 32year-old Karla Roman was crushed under a coach in Whitechapel.
Kwatia, of Catford, in southeast London, denies causing death by careless driving. The trial continues.