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news
Statue of Justice, Old Bailey (licensed CC BY 2.0 on Flickr by Ronnie Macdonald).jpgCharlie Alliston potentially facing perjury charge over claim he worked as a courier
Charlie Alliston, who was yesterday sentenced to 18 months in a young offender institution in connection with the death of London pedestrian Kim Briggs, could reportedly face a charge of perjury after claiming under oath at his trial last month that he was an experienced bike courier.
The 20-year-old was convicted last month of causing bodily harm through wanton and furious driving but acquitted of manslaughter in relation to the death of Mrs Briggs, who died from head injuries sustained when the pair collided on London’s Old Street in February 2016.
> London fixed wheel cyclist Charlie Alliston sentenced to 18 months in young offenders institution
He told the Old Bailey at his trial that he had spent eight months working as a courier in London, making up to 20 deliveries a day.
Alliston, whose fixed wheel bike had no front brake meaning it was not legal for use on the public highway, had apparently been seeking to convince the jury that his experience meant that he was able to control the bike safely.
He claimed while giving evidence that he had worked for three different firms, but the Daily Mail says that when it contacted two of his employers, they told him that he had minimal experience.
One, Go Between Couriers, said that he had worked for them for one day but never came back while a second, A-Z Couriers, confirmed that he had spent a week working there.
A third firm, Pink Express, ceased trading in 2014, a year before the time Alliston said he worked for them.
At the Old Bailey yesterday, Judge Wendy Joseph said: “I have now been advised that Mr Alliston was not telling the truth about his courier experience.”
She also confirmed that the Daily Mail had passed its information to the prosecution.
The judge made a reference to Alliston’s claimed employment history in her sentencing remarks.
She said: “During the latter months of 2015 you dropped out of school and told the court you worked as a bicycle courier, cycling extensively on the London roads.
“The truthfulness of your evidence on this point has been questioned, however, for the purposes of this sentencing it makes no difference, and for these purposes I put it out of my mind.”
Passing sentence, she told Alliston: “'I've heard your evidence and I have no doubt that even now you remain obstinately sure of yourself and your own abilities.
“I have no doubt you are wrong in this. You were an accident waiting to happen. The victim could have been any pedestrian. It was in fact Mrs Kim Briggs.
“'If you bicycle had a front wheel brake you could have stopped but on this illegal bike you could not and on your evidence, by this stage, you were not even trying to slow or stop.
“You expected her to get out of the way,” she added.
In England & Wales the offence of perjury, created under the Perjury Act 1911, carries a maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment or a fine, or both.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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65 comments
Jaywalking?
Google is your friend..
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=jaywalking&rlz=1CATAAB_enGB684GB684&oq...
I'm aware of what jaywalking is, I have no idea of the relevance in the UK.
not sure where you are from bikeman, but jaywalking isn't an offence in England, Scotland or Wales due to our roads being built before motorised vehicles. The only exception in the UK is Northeren Ireland which for some reason placed it in their statute books in the 20's. Though personally I have heard only of one case where the RUC charged an individual for this offence when he claimed he was out for a walk when in reality he was rioting. Apparantly his lawyer was going for the innocent out for a walk defence!
While I'm sure that played a part, I'm pretty sure they had roads before the invention of the car in the USA and other countries with jaywalking laws too, though obviously it goes a long way to explaining why attempting to walk anywhere is viewed with deep suspicion in the US.
I like to think that the main reason we don't have any such laws is because of the patent absurdity of them, and any cyclist who supports them should think about the possible consequences of new laws targeting non-motorists using the roads.
The background to those 'jaywalking' laws is briefly outlined here
http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/episode-76-the-modern-moloch/
There can't be many defendants who are found guilty who haven't commited perjury.
Are we now going to waste public funds and court time persuing them all or do we now victimise only the one's that the Dail Mail takes exception to?
On a seperate note it's about time pedestrians realised that it is not the responsbility of others to watch out for them when they jaywalk out into the road with their nose in their phone. The woman was unfortunate but she was also stupid.
Complete and utter anticycling bias by the DM. How many cases of drivers killing people where they weren't even prosecuted do they investigate? Where was the outrage when a seven times mobile driver killed a cyclist having sworn to the court that he'd lock up the phone in the boot?
The DM is read by mouth-breathing invertebrate drivers. And written by them as well.
Legin, at the moment I have as much trust for the law as the Daily Mail. Also the manipulation and corruption within the media and parliament are working hand in hand, herein lies the problem...
Do people actually believe what is written in the Hate Mail? Let the law take it's course on this or belive a scumbag fascist supporting rag if you wish
So it sounds like he's an archetypal 'bloater' He does a couple of days, at a job, then he tells anyone who's listening he's done it for years / is much better at it than he actually is. It's usually found in military circles, particularly the sort of weasel that maybe did a couple of years in the RLC, and then comes out with endless shit dits about their time in the SF. Not a crime in itself, unless you do it under oath.
a middle class woman died
"mother" please - in 44 years it would appear that her only defining achievement was a biological function
That's actually a good point. In all the coverage of the incident, she's only ever been described as a mother (or a young mother, even) and with her whole life ahead of her (which makes me feel much better, as she was a similar age to me
).
I haven't really seen anything about what she did as a job, or about her as a person.
The only completely common descriptor was that she was a joy to the world, a perfect person who made the world around her a better place (remember: only perfect people are ever killed in accidents, unless they were a cyclist...).
I'm not disparaging her, more having a go at how the MSM have to fit everything into a convenient narrative.
(It appears we are now going with "successful suburbanite mother is cruelly cut down by a sociopathic Walter Mitty style hipster and courier-wannabe").
I think there's also an element of emotional manipulation to this - just imagine if they were consistently reducing all women in this way and repeatedly referred to "childless Prime Minister Theresa May" at every possible mention...
bit cruel maybe? I'm sure in her case we could make an exception - it does kind of fit her image though!
I'm not at all sure of the point you were trying to make but she was widely reported to be a "HR executive"
To me this has absolutely nothing to do with the crime. I hate victim statements and those by the loved ones. The crime would be just the same if shere were rich/poor an angel or a criminal herself.
this is exactly the point, the media has unduly focused on the characters involved, trying to paint them in black and white, and as you say, it "has absolutely nothing to do with the crime"
therefore, it's only purpose is to manipulate the reader before the facts, which is basically the Mail's entire M.O.
Indeed, but ask the man in the street what she did and I bet you a pound to a pinch of shit they'd say she was a nurse. That's what she looks like in the most widely-publicised photo of her, and I'm cynical enough to think this was deliberate. Unfortunately for Alliston, in every photo of him, he looks like a bellend.
"If you bicycle had a front wheel brake you could have stopped but on this illegal bike you could not and on your evidence, by this stage, you were not even trying to slow or stop".
Can the judge be done for perjury?
No proof he could have stopped.
Bike is not illegal.
Not trying to slow or stop - prosecution accepted he had slowed.
Vitriol, hatred, miscarriage of justice. Outcome to pedestrian and him being am arse aside, this is a farce!
Oh FFS.
I hate the DM too, but contempt of court is a very serious offence and needs to be punished.
Being a cyclist (or a motorist or anything else) is no excuse.
Be sure to let us know when you come across an example of this contempt of court of which you speak, wontcha?
"It's time to play the music
It's time to light the lights..."
How relevant was this lie to the case? And could it have changed the outcome?
Not very, and I doubt it (which means NO perjury).
Shit stirring Daily Mail wankers appealing to the thick cunts that lap this sort of shite up without thinking.
C'mon daily mail readers out there, defend these spreaders of hate... (where's the wanker emoticon when you want it?).
The Daily Fail's petty prejudices were all too clear when they recently reported on the inquest for the poor chap who was killed when a pedestrian stepped out into the road in front of his bike
Defendants lie ALL THE TIME. If the lies get them acquitted, by all means prosecute. But when they are convicted, the CPS is usually grown-up enough to realise that a further prosecution - for perjury - does not pass the "public interest" test. But the Daily Mail isn't great at understanding the difference between the public interest and what they think the public should be interested in.
Some of you seem to get rather hung up on the Dailyfail, in the end he is a bellend.
So can we expect every single defendant who enters a not guilty plea being charged for perjury? Or maybe those that just take the stand to give evidence (alibis) which are later proven to be false? This is getting more like a witch hunt every day.
Wot the Daily Mail says isn't necessarily true... Shocka!
Or he could've been working off the books and the firms don't want to own up to it?
If he were supporting himself, have they stated how he was doing it, if not by couriering?
With courier firms is it ever really 'on the books'? Do they not treat all their couriers as 'self employed' anyway? So, apart from the reputational damage of being associated with the hate-figure de jour, do they have any reason to lie? They might just not bother keeping particularly good records, of course, as they generally want to deny all legal liability for their workforce.
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