Cyclists have taken to online forums to defend Charlie Alliston (left) who fatally injured mother-of-two Kim Briggs (right) with his bike claiming they face a ‘witch hunt’
Cyclists have taken to online forums to defend Charlie Alliston who fatally injured a mother-of-two with his bike and some claim they are in the midst a ‘witch hunt’.
Kim Briggs, 44, has also been described as a ‘zombie pedestrian’ by critics who repeated false claims she was on the phone when Alliston ploughed into her on his illegal ‘fixie’.
One Twitter user calling himself @returnofthejed said: ‘She walked out into the road .. mobile phone zombie I see it every day of the week in London .. clearly her fault 100%’.
@julesthecat123 said: ‘Had he died and she lived then she might have been done for reckless walking with phone. Wrist slap is all that is needed here’.
On Wednesday Alliston, 20, was cleared of manslaughter but convicted of ‘wanton and furious driving’ following an eight-day trial at the Old Bailey, which carries a maximum two-year sentence.
Judge Wendy Joseph said that he had not shown one ‘breath of remorse’ after he hit and killed 44-year-old Kim Briggs at 18mph as she crossed Old Street in London.
Posts on the London Fixed Gear and Single Speed Forum yesterday claimed that there was a ‘witch hunt for cyclists’ following the court case.
They also suggested that Mrs Briggs was responsible for her own death, adding the fact she was a mother would lead to a ‘diminishing of her part’.
Writing on the forum, one user, psg1ben, said: ‘Serious f******* (fecking) witch hunt for cyclists on radio London. Lots of drivers calling in, some talking nonsense.’
While another person under the name, dieface, said: ‘A mother will naturally elicit sympathy whilst a pierced hipster oik will attract derision. This will lead to diminishing of her part and amplification of his.’
Kim Briggs died a week after suffering catastrophic injuries after she was knocked down by Alliston, who was cleared of manslaughter this week
Some critics have continued to blame Mrs Briggs and repeated false claims she was on her phone
‘Wanton’ cyclist was first to be prosecuted for manslaughter
For the first time, the CPS brought a charge of manslaughter against Alliston, who was riding a fixed wheel bike with no front brake fitted.
For the first time, the CPS brought a charge of manslaughter against Alliston, who was riding a fixed wheel bike with no front brake fitted.
Track bikes not intended for road use can be sold without a front brake, but it is a legal requirement to fit such a bike with a front brake before using it on the road.
The law is currently restricted to charging cyclists accused of dangerous or reckless cycling to an outdated ‘wanton and furious driving’ charge.
Causing death by speeding bicycle is so rare it falls outside the usual traffic laws.
Charges of death by dangerous or careless driving only apply to people in charge of motorised vehicles so cannot be used when a pedestrian is run over by a cyclist.
This left prosecutors worrying how to deal with Charlie Alliston after he knocked down 44-year-old mother-of-two Kim Briggs while riding a fixed wheel bike with no brakes.
At first, they opted to fall back on a little-used 150-year-old law of causing bodily harm by ‘wanton or furious driving’.
But the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act historically used to prosecute horse-drawn carriage drivers only carries a maximum penalty of two years in contrast with the maximum of 14 years for death by dangerous driving.
The law was last used in 2015 in the case of 21-year-old Darryl Gittoes, who pleaded guilty and was jailed for 12 months.
Gittoes was riding a defective bike which had no brakes, a deflated rear tyre, a cracked front tyre and no bell when he hit Mary Evans, 73, in Hereford city centre in July 2014. She died in hospital nine days later.
Mark Wyeth QC, for Alliston, lost no time in alleging the prosecution had got it wrong and that his client had no case to answer.
Half-way through the trial, Mr Wyeth tried to get the manslaughter charge thrown out.
But while Judge Joseph said she was ‘grateful for all the submissions made to me on this interesting and difficult subject’, she ruled against the defence bid.
In the end, the jury cleared Alliston of manslaughter, but only after deliberating for more than 12 hours.
Alliston bought the bike for £470 from the Forum.
Alliston was cycling on an illegal Planet X fixed wheel bike which had was not fitted with any front brakes when he hit Mrs Briggs.
Under the current laws every pedal bike must be fitted with a brake on both the front and back wheels.
Prosecutors suggested that if Alliston’s bike had been fitted with a front brake, the accident may have been avoided.
The case is thought to be the first time a cyclist has been charged with manslaughter – a charge of which he was cleared.
Mrs Briggs’ widower, Matthew Briggs, has since called for a change in the law to protect people against ‘potentially lethal’ bikes.
Company director, Mr Briggs, said that his world had ‘fallen apart’ since the accident.
‘There is almost a fetishism around [such bikes], but as we have seen with my wife’s death, they are potentially lethal,’ he told the BBC.
‘They’re illegal, that’s one thing, but they’re potentially lethal. You’re reducing your braking ability by 50 per cent.’
Mrs Briggs had been out for a walk on her lunch break near the office of genealogy website, Find My Past, where she worked.
She died a week later, on February 19 last year.
Following the accident Alliston went back on to the online site and blamed Mrs Briggs for the collision saying that she was looking at her mobile phone and ignoring his shouts.
The day after the accident, he wrote: ‘I won’t say she deserved it … it was her fault but no she did not deserve it. Hopefully it is a lesson to be learned on her behalf.’
On a chat group he added: ‘If you know the flame will hurt you, yet you still proceed to put your hand over it and get burnt, it’s your fault – 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.’
During his trial, Alliston made much of his supposedly extensive experience as a cycle courier, claiming he regularly made around 20 deliveries a day.
But the Mail established that he barely worked for the three courier companies who he claimed employed him in mid to late 2015.
He claimed he first worked for Go Between Couriers, whose head office is in Clerkenwell, Central London. In reality Alliston only completed one day of employment there.
A senior manager at the firm told the Mail: ‘He worked for us for just one day and never turned up again. Perhaps he didn’t like the work but we certainly never saw him again. He didn’t work for us for weeks or months so I don’t see why he dragged us into the court case.’
Alliston also claimed to have worked extensively for a firm called A-Z Couriers. But a call to their London offices confirmed that he lasted only one week before leaving.
The final courier firm Alliston claimed he worked for in 2015 was Pink Express.
But a senior source at the firm said: ‘If he ever worked for Pink Express it would have been when he was a fourteen-year-old. I don’t know why he would say he worked at Pink Express – he just couldn’t have done so – because the firm did not exist when he says he was working for them.’
Kim Briggs’ husband Matthew (left, with a loved-one) wants a new Death by Dangerous Cycling law after Alliston was only convicted of a Victorian-era ‘furious and wanton driving’ charge
Alliston was riding this track bike which was illegal for road use as it had no front brakes when he smashed into the mother-of-two who died two weeks later
Alliston is due to be sentenced on September 18.
Scotland Yard has released footage showing its detectives testing the braking distances of a legal bike and an illegal ‘fixie’ used by Alliston after his conviction.
The tests, carried out on a wet road, showed that the Olympic-style track bike without a front brake stopped from a fixed point after 62ft – six times longer that the standard road bike’s stopping distance of 10ft.
Police said that a front brake would have made a difference in Mrs Briggs’ case but Alliston denied this.
A Met spokesman said: ‘An examination of the bicycle established that it was a “fixed wheel cycle’ that did not have a front brake at the time of the collision.
‘This resulted in a longer stopping distance when compared with other bicycles. The cycle should not have been in use of a public road.’
Widower calls for new cycling law after the death of his wife and says: ‘We all share these streets – let’s do it with care’
Matthew Briggs, husband of Kim Briggs, described having to tell their children their mother wouldn’t survive
The husband of Kim Briggs has made an impassioned plea for a change in the law – and the attitude of some cyclists – after Charlie Alliston was convicted over her death.
Matt Briggs, who is a cyclist himself, called for a new offence of causing death or serious injury by dangerous or careless cycling and said: ‘We all have to share these imperfect streets, let’s do so with care and due regard for each other.’
He also urged retailers to do more to make clear to customers that fixed wheel bikes without proper brakes are dangerous and illegal to use on the road.
In a powerful statement he said: ‘I am now determined to do what I can to prevent others from going through the heartache we have had to bear following Kim’s needless death.
‘We need to radically change some aspects of our cycling culture. This is not a witch hunt against all cyclists (I, myself cycle in London) only the irresponsible and reckless. We all have to share these imperfect streets, let’s do so with care and due regard for each other.
‘The current law is outdated and has not kept pace with the huge increase in the number of people cycling and the associated increased risk of collisions, nor the attitude of some cyclists. We need to change the way the law deals with this.
‘I am calling for an introduction of laws of causing Death or Serious Injury by Dangerous or Careless Cycling, thereby bringing cycling laws into line with the Road Traffic Act.
‘I also want people to understand that riding any bike without two brakes is illegal and, as we have seen, potentially lethal. I want bike retailers and, in particular, courier companies to communicate clearly and forcefully that these bikes are not legal or fit for road use’.
He added: ‘Finally, I would like to say that I will not live my life in anger. Anger is corrosive and damaging and there is enough anger in this world. Rather I shall endeavour to live my life and bring my children up as Kim did. Surrounded by positivity, compassion, humour and joy’.