Charlie Alliston was 18 when he crashed his fixed wheel track bike (with no front brakes) into mother of two Kim Briggs in London last February.
Prosecutors took the unprecedented step of bringing manslaughter charges but following a trial at the Old Bailey, jurors took 12 hours to find him not guilty of manslaughter but guilty of "causing bodily harm by wanton and furious driving" which carries a maximum of 2 years in jail.
Reading various news reports I cannot help but think that I hope he does get a term in jail as not only was he riding a bike that should never have been on the road, he doesn't appear to have shown any remorse for his actions, which was confirmed by Judge Wendy Joseph QC who commented that she "had not seen one iota of remorse from Mr Alliston at all at any stage" . Some of his comments on social media are nothing short of disgusting. Even when Ms Briggs lay dying in the road he shouted obscenities at her.
Cyclists are forever saying that they should be shown respect on the roads and should be treat like other road users such as cars, vans etc. so shouldn't we then liken a bike without brakes to any other vehicle without brakes?
Following the tragic death of his wife Mrs Briggs' husband has set about to bring "a change in the law and a change to attitudes".
