Kim Briggs died from injuries sustained after she was hit by a cyclist going at about 30kmh. Photo / Met Police
Kim Briggs died from injuries sustained after she was hit by a cyclist going at about 30kmh. Photo / Met Police
A British cyclist hit and killed a mother-of-two while illegally riding an Olympic-style track bike with no front brake and then posted online comments blaming the victim for the crash, a court heard.
Charlie Alliston, 20, was pedalling at nearly 30kmh when he collided with mother-of-two Kim Briggs, 44, as she tried to cross the road on her lunch break in busy Old St, east London.
Briggs, who had recently started work as head of human resources at the nearby office of genealogy website Find my Past, suffered catastrophic head injuries in the collision on February 12 last year. She later died in hospital.
The cyclist flew up in the air and clattered to the ground before quickly getting up to shout at Briggs as she lay on the ground, the court heard.
Hours after the crash, Alliston commented on a report about the crash on the Evening Standard website to say "this was not my fault".
He also wrote on a cycling forum: "I won't say she deserved it, it was her fault. Yes it was her fault, but no she did not deserve it. Hopefully it is a lesson to be learned on her behalf."
In response to questions about the condition of his bike he complained that if he had been going any faster the frame would have cracked or shattered.
Alliston also wrote: "I refuse to accept any responsibility in this whatsoever... It's not my fault people think they are invincible or just have zero respect for cyclists.
"What makes it worse is that, even when people were helping her, her phone was going off continuously with texts showing she was on it at the time.
"If you value your phone more than your life maybe this is the type of wake-up call you need."
Old St in east London where the incident took place on February 12 last year.
The Old Bailey heard Alliston claimed to have ridden track bikes since 2014.
In 2015, he tweeted about taking the brakes off a previous bike as like being 'in a Lucas Brunelle movie', referring to an American stunt rider, jurors heard.
He bought his black Planet X fixed-wheel track bike for £470 ($840) a month before the collision.
Prosecutor Duncan Penny QC said: "The bicycle was not equipped with a front brake and its design does not allow for the installation of a front brake.
"This was a bicycle designed to be ridden on a track. Without a front brake the bike could not be lawfully ridden in a public road.
"'Track bikes without a front brake are harder to bring to a halt than bicycles equipped with brakes.
"'It is one of the kind of bicycles you see being ridden around the velodrome in the Olympics and other events."
Jurors were shown CCTV footage of the horrific accident at the start of the trial of Alliston at the Old Bailey for manslaughter.
Penny said an investigation concluded that Alliston could have stopped in time if he had a front brake.
Alliston was riding a Planet X track bike with no front brakes, like this model.
One witness to the crash at 12.15pm heard two shouts of "get out of the way" before the impact with Briggs.
Alliston later told police he was riding an "average speed" and claimed that she stepped back into his path as he tried to avoid a collision.
He denied seeing her stepping off the pavement.
Alliston claimed the crash would still have happened if he had a brake and added: "I do not believe I was riding dangerous enough for it to make a difference. I did not have enough time to stop."
Briggs, from Lewisham, south-east London, died in hospital on 19 February as a result of severe brain injury.
The prosecutor told jurors that Alliston was charged with manslaughter because his riding was both unlawful and dangerous.
Penny said: "The Crown suggests that riding a bike without a brake through a busy area of central London at lunchtime at a time when hazards such as pedestrians stepping into the road might be expected to occur was dangerous."
Husband Matthew Briggs has previously described his wife as a "wonderful and much loved woman".
He said: "My priority has always been to concentrate on supporting my children through this unbelievable heartbreak."
Alliston, of Bermondsey, denies manslaughter and causing bodily harm by wanton or furious driving. The trial continues.
The New Zealand code for cyclists states that good brakes are needed on the front and back wheels, unless the bicycle was made before January 1, 1998.
