A lorry driver has admitted causing the death by careless driving of Dr Marta Krawiec at London’s notorious Holborn Gyratory in August 2021 – but will face trial next year on the more serious charge of causing death by dangerous driving, which he denies, after the Crown Prosecution Sevice rejected his guilty plea on the lesser charge.
Dr Krawiec, a children’s doctor, was riding to the clinic where she worked in Lavender Hill, Clapham Junction, when she was run over and killed by 68-year-old Kevin Allen at the junction of Southampton Row and Theobalds Road.
> "You must ensure that she is the last to die here": Colleagues of doctor killed while cycling to work demand “immediate action” from London Mayor
Appearing yesterday at the Old Bailey, Allen pleaded guilty to causing the 41-year-old doctor’s death by careless driving, which carries a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment, reports BBC News.
However, the prosecution did not accept his plea and instead he will appear at the same venue next year charged with causing death by dangerous driving, which is punishable by a jail term of up to 14 years.
Allen, from Forest Town, Nottinghamshire, has been handed an interim disqualification order by Judge Sarah Munro KC. The driving ban will be reviewed following the conclusion of the trial, which is due to open on 2 January 2024 and last five days.
Following the death of Dr Krawiec, both Stop Killing Cyclists and the London Cycling Campaign held protests at Holborn Gyratory, where despite several cyclists being killed in crashes involving large vehicles in the past decade or so, there is no physical protection from motor traffic for people on bikes.
Safety changes had been announced for the area by Transport for London (TfL) in March 2019 under the Healthy Streets scheme, but were put on hold due to the funding crisis sparked by the coronavirus pandemic the following year, which left it dependent on bailouts from central government to be able to continue operating.
Works to make some improvements at the junction started after Dr Krawiec’s death, but in March last year, another cyclist, former corporate lawyer Shatha Ali, was killed elsewhere on the gyratory system, outside Holborn Underground station.
Subsequently, the London Borough of Camden has approved a major overhaul of the Holborn Gyratory, including segregated cycle lanes, with work due to start later this year.
> Council green-lights safety changes to London's lethal Holborn gyratory
Please note that comments are closed on this article.
I'm afraid we'll see a fair bit of anti-cyclist rhetoric over the next 12 months. Local and regional elections are due this year and next year....
I've always leaned towards race bikes but did a fair amount of touring in my time; friends of my generation (mid 50s (in age not decade)) who were...
Same on the TPT. They feel it's their right to dominate all spaces. Strictly, they should never block the path where it's wider than single-track.
As a community, we should probably abandon the category 'e-bike' because it has no legal definition and is too broad....
That's strange - usually a vociferous backlash means that quite a few people are taking offense to it and that you should think about why that is....
This feels a bit like chopping down trees to make way for a cycle track, I can't tell what to make of it. As we've seen on this site, house owners...
surprised they didnt blame the council for not gritting the road
Cheers Andy
EDIT - I wonder if this is coming from the realisation of "we can't drive through quickly now - because of those *other drivers*"? If so is it...