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news
Paul Crompton's bike after Derek Pipe rear-ended him (via Twitter)Mr Loophole secures acquittal of cyclist accused of causing crash
Nick Freeman, the lawyer nicknamed ‘Mr Loophole’ for obtaining not guilty verdicts for celebrities charged with motoring offences, has secured the acquittal of a London cyclist who had been accused of causing a crash.
Paul Crompton, aged 54, appeared at Bexley Magistrates’ Court yesterday charged with riding his bike “without due care and attention” following an incident in Lewisham on 24 October 2020, reports the News Shopper.
Oct 2020 I was rammed from behind by a motorist as I was cycling. Unbelievably, @CPSUK decided to take me to court for “cycling without due care and attention”. Today I was given a NOT GUILTY verdict. I was represented by @TheMrLoophole who made sure justice was done. pic.twitter.com/QV3HIN5NVI
— Paul Crompton (@major_rawls) January 6, 2022
The prosecution had claimed that Mr Crompton – a television producer whose credits include the Channel 4 show Escape to the Chateau – had braked suddenly in front of 74-year-old driver Derek Pipe, causing him to crash into the back of his bike.
Mr Crompton, who sustained soft tissue damage in the incident on Ladywell Road, described the charge against him as “insane” and told the court that he had feared being “sandwiched in” between Mr Pipe’s Ford Focus and a row of parked cars and that he knocked on the driver’s window to try and make him aware of his presence.
“I wanted to warn him that he'd done a dangerous manoeuvre and I would hope that a warning would mean he would think about it next time,” he explained.
“I knocked on his window and shouted, ‘Didn't you see me?’ very loudly.”
He said he then rode in front of the car, but was “catapulted” over his handlebars after the driver crashed into the back of his bike, destroying the rear wheel.
“He had no idea I was there,” he added.
Mr Pipe had claimed that Mr Crompton had clipped his wing mirror and hurled abuse at him during the incident, and that he had then stopped twice in front of his car and given him no time to avoid the crash.
He told the court: “The cyclist came up the outside of me and then put his bike across the front of my car towards the windscreen and started hurling abuse, shouting, going off in a very intimidating, aggressive manner.
“I was just proceeding safely behind him then all of a sudden he stopped again a second time,” said the motorist, who claimed he was driving at five miles per hour when he struck Mr Crompton.
“The distance we both travelled was so short it was impossible for me to hit the brake in time,” he added.
Mr Freeman, who described Mr Pipe’s version of events as “littered with confusion,” said that even if the cyclist had come to a halt suddenly, Mr Crompton had not allowed adequate braking distance between his vehicle and the rider.
He said the claim that his client meant to cause the collision was “ludicrous,” bringing about “this rather unique and bizarre situation Mr Crompton finds himself in accused of riding without due care and attention.”
Christina Pride, chairing the bench, said: “We’ve heard two differing accounts of the incident.
“The prosecution has not proven the case so that we are sure beyond reasonable doubt. We therefore find Mr Crompton not guilty.”
Following the verdict, Mr Crompton said that he was “utterly, utterly relieved.”
He added: “Although it sounds farcical you still question which way they will go because it's one person's word against another.”
Mr Freeman, whose past clients include Sir Alex Ferguson, David Beckham and Jeremy Clarkson, said: “The whole case has been bizarre,” and described it as “a complete waste of people's time, trouble and money.
Happy to report a successful outcome for my client #cycling https://t.co/TFOUKQxa1I
— Nick Freeman (@TheMrLoophole) January 6, 2022
“This has taken up three hours of time,” he continued. “It’s cost the taxpayer probably thousands of pounds.
“Mr Crompton will now be commencing civil proceedings against Mr Pipe,” he added.
Last month, the Government responded to a petition posted by Mr Freeman last June on the Parliament.uk website in which he called for cyclists to be registered and wear visible ID, be subject to penalty points if they commit offences and be forced to ride in cycle lanes where applicable.
In response, the Department for Transport said: “The Government has no plans to introduce any such requirements for cyclists. The current trials of rental e-scooters will inform future policy on them.
“The Government considers that the costs of a formal registration system for cycle ownership would outweigh the benefits. The safety case for such a system is not as strong as that for drivers since, by contrast with motorised vehicles, cycles involved in collisions on the highway are highly unlikely to cause serious injury to other road users.”
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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142 comments
Amazing, especially when according to our Nige a driver can't be expected to see a cyclist if there is another, slightly larger, cyclist in between them.
He probably saw a red light flash at the back of the bicycle. Must have been a brake light, right?
Thanks for additional info. The source of the first part would be interesting. I wonder if that comes back to the driver and "me and my invisible friends" - otherwise a) as mentioned how could he have seen the cyclist braking (if the cyclist was so close that Mr Crompton "had no time to react" as he says) and b) with a police witness I'm amazed that the prosecution didn't make more effort to get them heard (e.g. if they weren't there do all they could to hunt them down, apply to reschedule etc.)
Same source - Paul Crompton on Facebook. I was just being lazy and only screenshotted the 2nd part.
Thanks! Alas the mystery continues - we don't know if this chap popped up at the scene offering his services or Paul Crompton is reporting that he's heard that there is same (eg. as reported via driver / lawyers). So all we can say is "Not in court so didn't happen"...
The presumption is that the CPS prosecuted due to a Met copper providing witness of the cyclist brake checking the motorist; to those who think this couldn't possibly be so, I have seen quite a few dashcam videos showing just that sort of scenario and as a former traffic cop, I developed the ability to accurately assess vehicle speed before my speed checking device confirmed the speed, which is typical of most traffic cops; so I don't doubt the ability of a cop to notice a cyclist in frontal view, suddenly braking without good reason.
If you actually read more carefully, you'll see that the officer was behind the car which struck the cyclist, i.e. diametrically opposed to a frontal view. At best s/he could have seen perhaps the cyclist's head, or maybe an obscured view through the two panes of glass of the involved vehicle's windscreens. Quite how the officer was able to judge that the defendant braked hard from that viewpoint is anybody's guess; the fact the officer did not appear in court and that their evidence doesn't even appear to have been cited by the prosecution speaks volumes as to credibility.
As they didn't turn up as a witness, their observations are surely irrelevant. It does sound to me as though the involvement of a cop as a witness is probably why this went to court.
Bastard. Braking on purpose. How dare he?
It's very rare for me to ever brake by accident...
Out here in the fens we rarely brake at all. The 360 degree head wind is usually sufficient to stop you.
Whilst he may not have charged the client, we do not know from this story whether he applied for a costs order upon the acquittal and then submitted a claim for costs to be paid from central funds.
I know crash for cash is a thing, but the idea is to have a crash and claim compensation for injuries you don't have, not for injuries that are very real.
The idea that anyone would cause a collsion with a car deliberately when they were on a bike is farcical. Surely to make this decision the CPS must have reviewed the dashcam footage from the car? Amazing that it was not presented at the trial to convince the magistrates.
.
Got you Nigel.
If someone pokes fun at you its "cyber bullying" but when you do it "its clearly a joke".
Finally bitten.
Excellent. I claim the win.
Your lack of irony is hilarious.
One for Rendel to add to the library.
Nigel are you going to follow your own advice
Is that you joking or actively engaging in Cyber Bullying?
It's surely just banter, like asking people with weight problems when the baby's due, or calling grown women silly little girls and saying they should be beaten on the bottom. It's all just good-natured joshing, of course, how could it possibly mistaken for the misanthropic misogynist ramblings of a very sad bitter individual?
Indeed, his comment is in reference to someone wearing a face covering in their profile picture....... it's almost like he doesn't know that there is a global pandemic going on.
He does, just he is politically against such things like society protecting each other no matter what he states for road usage. Same reason he is against cycling clubs and pensioners.
You mean this?
But Nige..... do you not regularly complain that the reason for cyclists being close passed is the fact that they respond to drivers that have close passed them. And that you don't get angry.
So by your logic..... you are at fault for responding to the comment..... or is it one rule for you and one rule for the rest of us?
So if you were actually a man of your word.... which you are not because it has been proved that you repeatedly make stuff up...... You would have replied that you weren't going to take the bait..... but instead you reacted
You are like any typical bully..... you are quite happy to dish out but complain bitterly when you are on the receiving end of similar.
In all fairness, Nige, you do a pretty good job of thread-wrecking all by yourself...
I have cause and effect the wrong way round????
That's interesting coming from you. You repeatedly try to argue that where a driver close passes a cyclist.... the cyclist then shouts or reacts..... then the driver retaliates..... you try to argue that the cyclist reacting is the cause of all of the problems.
You keep getting told that the cause is the unwarranted close pass and that the effect is the reaction from the cyclist...... but that doesn't suit your narrative
Not just close passes, he stated it was a cyclists fault for someone driving into the back of them deliberately because they stated "what the fuck" as they realised the driver was about to hit them.
I do find it also amazing that if he is so upset with social attitudes of cyclists being angry ranty men, why does he fund and support the people who perpetuate that myth like the DM, Freeman, Express and Telegraph.
Still let him think he has never lied at all and his delusions in his own private echo chamber.
Worse than that. The claim was the words were "you effing c " Then the cyclist came on here and put them right to what we could hear anyway.
Nice one Nasal. The only productive and to the point response to racist misogynist odious turds (apart from silence that is)
A bit touchy young Nigel!
Nige Nige Nige maybe if you didn't continiually Sea lion then people may be prepared to engage. But then wheres the fun in that eh? You Tw*t.
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