S
spindrift
Guest
A lorry driver who ran over and killed a cyclist who was a writer and
jewellery designer was today fined £300 after admitting careless
driving.
Emma Foa, 56 died as she cycled from her home in Hampstead Heath to
work in Clerkenwell in December. She was killed instantly after being
crushed between the cement mixer's rear wheels and roadside railings.
At Westminster Magistrates Court today Michael Thorn, 52 of Headley
Down, Surrey was allowed to keep his driver's licence and was ordered
to pay £100 costs.
The court had been told that Thorn had been looking for some papers in
his cabin when the bike was beside him and also when his vehicle began
to turn left and the fatal crash occured.
The family of Ms Foa - the daughter of typewriter magnate Adriano
Ollivetti said she was wearing a luminious reflector jacket and a
helmet when she was crushed by the two tonne lorry.
District Judge Anthony Evans said:
"I accept in cases of this sort it's distressing for all concerned,
the family of the disceased and the driver whose inadvertance has
resulted in a fatality."
Prosecutor Graham Parkinson told the court the incident happened at
9.10am in Camley Street, Kings Cross.
"Emma was riding her bike and reached the traffic lights. She went
along the nearside and waited for the lights to change," he said.
"She was alongside for 37 seconds and would have been visible. He
moved off and turned left causing her to be pushed to the ground and
killed instantly. He had been looking for some paperwork in his truck...
He felt a bump, saw a bike and jumped out to find her."
Karen Dempsey, defending, said that Thorn was "shocked and distressed"
and that the incident "would live with him for the rest of his life".
She added that witnesses had said he was not driving aggressively.
I am not sure what I am most shocked by. I am not shocked that,
despite the fact that Mr Thorn's criminal negligence has resulted in
the unlawful killing of Ms Foa, the court is allowing him to continue
to drive.
I am not shocked that, despite being found guilty of road crime, the
driver has been fined £300.
The sentence is entirely in keeping with the tariff for road killing.
The driver who killed London bicycle messenger Sebastian Lukomski
received a 6 point endorsement and a £1000 fine.
Yet again, the old adage 'if you want to get away with murder, get
behind the wheel of a lorry' is proven true. OK, it's not murder, it's
manslaughter but someone is dead because someone else was in charge of
dangerous machinery, and failed to their job properly.
I am shocked that the judge has chosen the word "inadvertence" to
describe the actions of the driver. Making a left turn whilst fumbling
for papers in a HGV? That's not inadvertence - that's just f***ing
stupid.
I am shocked that the defending barrister said that the driver was not
driving aggressively.
As if a lack of aggression excuses somehow a negligent act which has
led to an avoidable death. The dead woman's only mistake was to be
riding her bicycle and assuming that "a luminous reflective jacket"
and a helmet would protect her.
She stopped at the lights, and she wasn't in the "blind spot". But
the driver didn't see her, because he wasn't looking. And she was
crushed to death because he was too busy checking his pay-sheet to
make sure he had got his overtime to pay attention to what his two-
tonne machine might be rolling over.
This is the reality of cycling in London. No matter how many
campaigns, no matter how much lobbying, no matter how many pro-cycling
articles the fact remains that any stupid, lazy, feckless waster of an
idiot of a driver can kill with virtual impunity- the fine equivelent
to less than the cost of the bike.
Beyond belief.
jewellery designer was today fined £300 after admitting careless
driving.
Emma Foa, 56 died as she cycled from her home in Hampstead Heath to
work in Clerkenwell in December. She was killed instantly after being
crushed between the cement mixer's rear wheels and roadside railings.
At Westminster Magistrates Court today Michael Thorn, 52 of Headley
Down, Surrey was allowed to keep his driver's licence and was ordered
to pay £100 costs.
The court had been told that Thorn had been looking for some papers in
his cabin when the bike was beside him and also when his vehicle began
to turn left and the fatal crash occured.
The family of Ms Foa - the daughter of typewriter magnate Adriano
Ollivetti said she was wearing a luminious reflector jacket and a
helmet when she was crushed by the two tonne lorry.
District Judge Anthony Evans said:
"I accept in cases of this sort it's distressing for all concerned,
the family of the disceased and the driver whose inadvertance has
resulted in a fatality."
Prosecutor Graham Parkinson told the court the incident happened at
9.10am in Camley Street, Kings Cross.
"Emma was riding her bike and reached the traffic lights. She went
along the nearside and waited for the lights to change," he said.
"She was alongside for 37 seconds and would have been visible. He
moved off and turned left causing her to be pushed to the ground and
killed instantly. He had been looking for some paperwork in his truck...
He felt a bump, saw a bike and jumped out to find her."
Karen Dempsey, defending, said that Thorn was "shocked and distressed"
and that the incident "would live with him for the rest of his life".
She added that witnesses had said he was not driving aggressively.
I am not sure what I am most shocked by. I am not shocked that,
despite the fact that Mr Thorn's criminal negligence has resulted in
the unlawful killing of Ms Foa, the court is allowing him to continue
to drive.
I am not shocked that, despite being found guilty of road crime, the
driver has been fined £300.
The sentence is entirely in keeping with the tariff for road killing.
The driver who killed London bicycle messenger Sebastian Lukomski
received a 6 point endorsement and a £1000 fine.
Yet again, the old adage 'if you want to get away with murder, get
behind the wheel of a lorry' is proven true. OK, it's not murder, it's
manslaughter but someone is dead because someone else was in charge of
dangerous machinery, and failed to their job properly.
I am shocked that the judge has chosen the word "inadvertence" to
describe the actions of the driver. Making a left turn whilst fumbling
for papers in a HGV? That's not inadvertence - that's just f***ing
stupid.
I am shocked that the defending barrister said that the driver was not
driving aggressively.
As if a lack of aggression excuses somehow a negligent act which has
led to an avoidable death. The dead woman's only mistake was to be
riding her bicycle and assuming that "a luminous reflective jacket"
and a helmet would protect her.
She stopped at the lights, and she wasn't in the "blind spot". But
the driver didn't see her, because he wasn't looking. And she was
crushed to death because he was too busy checking his pay-sheet to
make sure he had got his overtime to pay attention to what his two-
tonne machine might be rolling over.
This is the reality of cycling in London. No matter how many
campaigns, no matter how much lobbying, no matter how many pro-cycling
articles the fact remains that any stupid, lazy, feckless waster of an
idiot of a driver can kill with virtual impunity- the fine equivelent
to less than the cost of the bike.
Beyond belief.
