A grieving husband believes police failed to properly investigate a cyclist who killed his wife in a crash.
Peter Walker lost his 76-year-old wife Diana last year when Trevor Albery’s racing bike struck her at speed.
The accident bears some similarities to the case of Kim Briggs who was killed when she was hit by teenage cyclist Charlie Alliston in east London.
Keen cyclist: Trevor Albery holds up his bike. Mr Albery gave brief evidence at the inquest. He was never arrested nor interviewed under caution. A statement from him – not taken by police until three months after the accident – said he was cycling at 18mph when he hit Mrs Walker
Alliston was given an 18-month custodial sentence for ‘furious and wanton’ driving, under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act. However, Alliston was riding a fixed-wheel track cycle with no front brakes – not legal for road use. Mr Albery was riding a legal Scott road bike.
On May 13 last year, Mrs Walker had left her home in Pewsey, Wiltshire, to go shopping when she was hit by 47-year-old Warner Brothers executive Mr Albery at lunchtime.
She stepped into the road and the pair collided with such impact that the rear wheel of the carbon fibre bike broke away. Mrs Walker died the next day.
In the following months, her husband was forced to make his own enquiries to discover the name of the cyclist, after police refused to release his identity.
Accident: Diana Walker, pictured with her husband Peter. Peter Walker lost his 76-year-old wife Diana last year when Trevor Albery’s racing bike struck her at speed
Grandfather-of-four Mr Walker, 80, got Mr Albery’s name from locals and enlisted the help of his two sons to carry out an online investigation into the cyclist’s riding habits.
At an inquest in November 2016, the assistant coroner told Mike Veale, Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police: ‘Both the family and myself are very concerned the Serious Collision Investigation team do not attend collisions involving cyclists and pedestrians.’
Mr Albery gave brief evidence at the inquest. He was never arrested nor interviewed under caution. A statement from him – not taken by police until three months after the accident – said he was cycling at 18mph when he hit Mrs Walker.
But he admitted his Garmin GPS tracking device recorded him cycling at an average of 23mph during his five-mile ride that day. At one stage he added that he had hit 30mph when travelling ‘downhill within the national speed limit’.
The accident bears some similarities to the case of Kim Briggs who was killed when she was hit by teenage cyclist Charlie Alliston (pictured) in east London
Eyewitness Janet Bailey told the inquest Mr Albery’s bike had come ‘out of nowhere’.
The family found Mr Albery recorded his riding speeds on cycling website Strava. Recent additions by Mr Albery show he set a ‘2nd fastest time on Grafton Hill’ and ‘a second fastest time on MA to Pewsey Corner’.
According to the Walker family, the police could have acted under 1946 and 1991 road traffic laws. Last night Mr Walker said: ‘The police never bothered to look at it as a police investigation. It was written off as an accident. They didn’t take any photographs, make any notes.’
CCTV footage of the crash, captured by a pub, was never used as evidence because it was deemed ‘poor quality’. ‘If it had been a murder they would have been able to improve the quality,’ Mr Walker said.
After local MP Claire Perry wrote to ministers about the case, Mr Walker said: ‘The transport ministry wrote back pointing out the Road Traffic Act 1991 would cover this case but when the police came and saw me after that all they did was defend their actions so far.’
He added: ‘The police were obviously trying to sweep the whole thing under the carpet.’
When contacted by the Daily Mail Mr Albery declined to comment. A statement from Wiltshire Police said the force ‘carried out a thorough investigation at the time … Our enquiries found that no crime had been committed in relation to this.’