Red light jumping cyclist prosecuted for manslaughter

[PK99]

A cyclist killed a 73-year-old pedestrian after riding through a red light, leaving him "bleeding" in the road, a court has heard.
Ermir Loka, of Manor Road, Leyton, east London, is accused of the manslaughter of Peter McCombie, who was struck on Bow Road, Tower Hamlets on 3 July.
Mr McCombie died from severe brain injuries eight days after the crash.
Mr Loka denied manslaughter and causing bodily harm by wanton or furious driving at Snaresbrook Crown Court.
The court heard Mr Loka, 23, was travelling at about 15mph (24km/h) when he collided with Mr McCombie, who was on his way home from working as a hospital administrator.
Prosecutor Deanna Heer said the defendant had been "cycling with a degree of purpose" and had overtaken other cyclists in his approach to the pedestrian crossing where Mr McCombie was waiting.
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The traffic lights had turned to amber around eight-and-a-half seconds before the incident, jurors were told.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-56320121

 

[classic33]

Leaving the scene and not turning himself(admitting he was in the wrong) until two weeks after the death of the person he'd hit will go against him.

 

[Brandane]

Deserves all that is heading his way. Giving ammunition to the growing anti-cyclist brigade too.

 

[I like Skol]

I don't really care that he went through a red light, that is neither here nor there. The key thing is that he rode into an innocent pedestrian that did nothing wrong. GUILTY!

 

[MontyVeda]

Had Mr Loka been driving a car instead of riding a bike, would he still be facing manslaughter charges?

A genuine question by the way.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

Why isn’t this the standard charge in all such RTCs and not just reserved for cyclists⸮

 

[vickster]

Had Mr Loka been driving a car instead of riding a bike, would he still be facing manslaughter charges?

A genuine question by the way.

What if he’d run a red light and fled the scene? one would hope so, or causing death by dangerous driving?

 

[PK99]

Had Mr Loka been driving a car instead of riding a bike, would he still be facing manslaughter charges?

A genuine question by the way.

Why isn’t this the standard charge in all such RTCs and not just reserved for cyclists⸮

The driving offence would be Causing death by careless or dangerous driving. The max penalty for those is now the same as for manslaughter ..IIRC.

That charge is not available for cyclists.

 

[Dan77]

Yes, seems fair. I'm sure he didn't intend to hurt or injure the gentleman but his actions caused his death. That's basically the definition of manslaughter.

 

[MichaelW2]

Had Mr Loka been driving a car instead of riding a bike, would he still be facing manslaughter charges?

A genuine question by the way.

The charge would be as already stated, but media intetest would be zero. This would get no further than page 5 of the local newspaper.

 

[Slick]

Yes, seems fair. I'm sure he didn't intend to hurt or injure the gentleman but his actions caused his death. That's basically the definition of manslaughter.

Is "Intent" not critical in cases like these?

 

[PK99]

Is "Intent" not critical in cases like these?

Involuntary Manslaughter. Where an unlawful killing is done without an intention to kill or to cause grievous bodily harm, the suspect is to be charged with manslaughter not murder. Apart from the absence of the requisite intent, all other elements of the offence are the same as for murder.18 Mar 2019

www.cps.gov.uk › legal-guidance
Homicide: Murder and Manslaughter | The Crown Prosecution Service

 

[Slick]

Involuntary Manslaughter. Where an unlawful killing is done without an intention to kill or to cause grievous bodily harm, the suspect is to be charged with manslaughter not murder. Apart from the absence of the requisite intent, all other elements of the offence are the same as for murder.18 Mar 2019
View attachment 577927
www.cps.gov.uk › legal-guidance
Homicide: Murder and Manslaughter | The Crown Prosecution Service

I kind of knew but I thought someone would confirm. 👍

 

[Brandane]

Is "Intent" not critical in cases like these?

If there had been intent (to kill) then hopefully the charge would have been murder! There used to be a thing, in Scotland at least, whereby a murder charge could stand if there was "a wilful act so reckless as to have complete disregard for the consequences". e.g. throwing a brick through the windscreen of a moving car, driver loses control, car crashes and occupants are killed. That was murder. It seems to be the norm now to go for the lesser charge of manslaughter as it is easier to prove. Even pushing a knife into someone's abdomen doesn't seem to be enough intent these days, as long as the accused sticks with the "but I didn't mean to kill him, officer" line.

 

[Drago]

Leaving the scene and not turning himself(admitting he was in the wrong) until two weeks after the death of the person he'd hit will go against him.

Indeed, kinda eliminates any hope of mitigation. WTF people cant just do as they're told and obey all the laws, and not just the ones that suits them, is beyond me.

This chap has just discovered that the risks being very low of something going awry is suddenly no comfort when it does go thruppenies up. It's like these twits on illegal ebikes - the risks are low, but when fate does come knocking then suddenly those extra 3 or 4 mph don't seem worth the consequences.

I completely agree with Brandane. If you willfully commit an unlawful or reckless act and a foreseeable outcome is a death then the actions should thus be treated as intent and dealt with as murder. You can tdcklessly assault someone, so why can't you recklessly murder them if those feckless actions were deliberate?