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Metropolitan Police.jpgWife of cyclist severely disabled by Met police car answering 999 call sues police force - who say they weren't at fault
A cyclist who was left with permanent disabilities from severe head injuries he sustained when hit by a police car answering a 999 call in London is suing the Metropolitan Police for more than £1m.
The former Guardian journalist, Donald MacLeod, spent six weeks in a coma after being hit in Islington by a police car on its way to investigate a shooting in May 2010. He is still unable to communicate with those around him.
Now his wife Barbara is flighting a High Court legal battle to make the Met take responsibility for his injuries.
The police force argues that Mr MacLeod himself cycled into the path of the police car.
His barrister, Angus Withington told the High Court that Mr MacLeod had been working at The Guardian’s offices in Farringdon Road and went for a drink at a wine bar before setting off to cycle back to his then-home in Scholars Place, Stoke Newington, North London.
The police car, responding to reports of a shooting on the Wilton Estate in Hackney, was also travelling along Southgate Road with its lights flashing and sirens blaring, he said.
“It is Mr MacLeod’s case that he was proceeding in a northerly direction on Southgate Road, in advance of the police car, and he was struck from the rear and the right,” he said, according to Chronicle Live.
“It is said on his behalf that the driver of the police car simply failed to identify his presence in the road and that that was the cause of the collision.”
David Waters, representing the Met, argued that the collision had happened differently, saying that Mr MacLeod cycled out of Northgate Road or straight from the pavement into the police car’s path at the junction with Southgate Road.
Barbara MacLeod told the court: “He was absolutely safety-conscious and I clearly remember him one night taking the bus because he had forgotten his lights.”
Mr MacLeod’s sister Janet told the paper his survival had been miraculous.
She said: “They thought he would be completely brain damaged but he’s re-learning how to do things despite the fact he’s still incredibly disabled.
“His understanding of things has improved and, although he can’t communicate with us, he understands conversation and he laughs at us. He’s made amazing strides over just a few years.
“I think that’s largely because of the amazing love and care of my sister-in-law and the support of his family and friends.”
The case is expected to conclude in the coming week.
In the year of Mr MacLeod’s collision, we reported how an average of 12 road traffic collisioner per day took place involving vehicles belonging to the Metropolitan Police.
Metropolitan Police drivers responded to 2 million 999 calls in 2009/10 and covered 73 million miles in their vehicles during the year.
Scaled up, that would equate to a fatality rate of 137 per 1 billion miles driven, compared to a national killed & seriously injured rate, according to Department for Transport Statistics, of 85 in 2009.
In all, there were 3,015 people injured as a result of accidents involving a police car during the three-year period covered by the figures, which were released in response to a Freedom of Information request. Of those, 247 were pedestrians and 135 cyclists.
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47 comments
Police racing but no dashcam footage to show? Guilty, liable, pay up.
Seconded.
I'm sorry to the members of the police who post on this site, and IO know it looks like trial by the hoi polloi (never plebs
) but the Met will need to start working very hard indeed to restore confidence, before us civilians stop just assuming that they are lying.
Recent news stories have really messed up the public's trust in the police generally, IMO, and if the police can only put forward the word of their officers rather than any camera footage, then I don't believe they have a leg to stand on.
With the increasing distrust of police, it's a surprise that all their vehicles aren't equipped with dashcams, especially since some forces are testing bodycams.
Small point, but if you use foreign words to give you an air of learning, it's quickly dispelled by repeating yourself in English; "hoi" = "the".
I know, I'm sorry
(it's a long time since my Latin O-levels...).
Hate to break it to you = it's Greek.
Haven't done Greek since a term at the beginning of university (hated it). Plebs is from the Latin, though...
For a commuter from Farringdon to Stoke Newington, there's no reason at all to be on Northchurch Road.
The Southgate Road, Northchurch Road intersection used to be on my route for over a year, but then I was going from Oxford St to Hackney Wick. That's West to East.
He was going from South to North.
Police in blatant misdirection shocker... Where's the dashcam footage? Lost I'm sure...
When did the police ever tell the truth? A lot of them are filth who wouldn't think twice about bending the truth concocting a totally different scenario to save their own skins e.g. Hillsborough or the murder of Ian Tomlinson. Why don't they just admit they were negligent and save this family any further suffering?
OK, that may or may not be true, but think about it from the POV of the statements of the defense - this guy was hit after having some drinks by an emergency vehicle WITH LIGHTS AND SIRENS ON.
Maybe the rules are different in the UK, but in Canada, the rules are that you need to PULL OVER AND STOP within 150m FORE AND AFT of an emergency vehicle with sirens active.
This guy did not, he kept on riding.
And you believe that he was dumb/drunk enough to keep riding while an emergency vehicle was in close proximity with lights and sirens on and wasn't having problems staying in a straight line?
You clearly haven't observed many people riding while drunk.
Regardless of whether you're on a bike, motorcycle or car, if you hear sirens, pull the fuck over.
You being a victim-blaming bastard much?
UK guidelines is that you pull over when safe to do so. Here's the guideline from the Highway Code:
219
Emergency and Incident Support vehicles. You should look and listen for ambulances, fire engines, police, doctors or other emergency vehicles using flashing blue, red or green lights and sirens or flashing headlights, or Highways Agency Traffic Officer and Incident Support vehicles using flashing amber lights. When one approaches do not panic. Consider the route of such a vehicle and take appropriate action to let it pass, while complying with all traffic signs. If necessary, pull to the side of the road and stop, but try to avoid stopping before the brow of a hill, a bend or narrow section of road. Do not endanger yourself, other road users or pedestrians and avoid mounting the kerb. Do not brake harshly on approach to a junction or roundabout, as a following vehicle may not have the same view as you.
We do not know the road conditions at the time of the incident. There may have been parked cars at the time meaning that Mr MacLeod was unable to pull over safely. It is also highly unlikely that he has pulled out in front of an emergency vehicle.
Of course the driver concerned is going to say the cyclist pulled out in front of him (it makes not one iota if it was a police driver or not). All they are doing is trying to put the blame on the victim and escape the fact that were not paying attention to what was in front of them. Emergency vehicle drivers have a huge responsibility on them to be aware of their surroundings when on a call they also cannot "assume" that if a motoristcyclist pulls over to the side that it is safe to progress. They also cannot force another road user to make a dangerous manoeuvre.
I also find your assumption that Mr MacLeod was drunk highly insulting to him and his family. We have no idea as to how much drink was consumed or even if it was alcohol.
I'm sorry but jumping to conclusions such as this helps no one, he may have been in the wrong, he may not but by blaming him straight, just like others who immediately blamed the Police is wrong on so many levels.
Let the case be dealt with and after that read the judgement and then make complaints if your not happy.
Sounds almost a "SWSS", a single witness suicide swerve.
Didn't they tour with Zodiac Mindwarp in 1988?
That'll be Northchurch Road then, just by the now closed Northgate pub. Am going to assume this was a reporting error by Chronicle Live.
Be interesting to know the locus of impact and witness statements. The implied route cutting across from Essex Road to Southgate Road via Northchurch Road seems odd as a selection of commuter route, and lack of clarity in the report of the police account ("MacLeod cycled out of Northgate [sic] Road or straight from the pavement into the police car’s path at the junction with Southgate Road" - well, which one?) makes one feel uneasy.
Pretty scary numbers aren't they? That's a lot of ruined lives just to have police turn up somewhere only to be subsequently let down by the CPS or if it actually gets to court the ever lenient and outdated judiciary.
Let's keep picking on the cyclists though, bloody dangerous lot we are.
Surely the noble police would never bend the truth about anything?
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