Death of John Harkins, Leeds.

[thirdcrank]

This is mainly to record the death of a cyclist, John Harkins, after being hit by a car on Kirkstall Road in Leeds on Monday 14 November.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-38015768

It seems that the car which hit him overturned and crashed into a parade of shops. The occupants of another car were arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. (30mph limit BTW.)

A bit more here from the police, including an appeal for people to refrain from posting "very graphic video footage" on social media.

https://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/new ... ad-leeds-0

This crash comes just a fortnight after the police closed Kirkstall Road on Hallowe'en because a number of motorcyclists were riding dangerously, having started their fun earlier, riding round the pedestrianised city centre.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-37830539

Once upon a time, Mischief Night (4 November) was regularly marked by serious public order problems in parts of Leeds, eg police and fire brigade attacked with bricks, but now the problem is trick-or-treaters, apparently.

https://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/new ... dent-leeds

Our Police and Crime Commissioner is on the case of the motorcyclists:

"I am committed to keeping West Yorkshire a safe place for everyone and this kind of thoughtless dangerous behaviour will absolutely not be tolerated. The perpetrators can expect a knock at the door shortly."

https://www.westyorkshire-pcc.gov.uk/ne ... 1-nov-2016).aspx

The antics of those motorcyclists reminded me of something posted on here a few years ago: they set off for Kirkstall Road about 1:10 into the clip.

https://vimeo.com/5103923

[thirdcrank]

A ghost bike has been placed at the scene.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-38116246

[PudseyPedaller]

Does anyone know if there are any updates to this? i.e. whether the motorists involved were charged and convicted?

[thirdcrank]

I've not seen anything. I've just done the obvious google searches and found no reports of a court case. Obviously, I only have the name of the deceased rather than any suspects/ defendants, but if it had made it to a media report, I'd have expected the decesed's name to be included. There's this in Bez's pretty comprehensive list of cycling fatalities but no update. Sorry I can't be more specific.

https://beyondthekerb.org.uk/incident/3780/

[PudseyPedaller]

Thanks, might have to put in an FOI to police. Is that possible?

[thirdcrank]

Thanks, might have to put in an FOI to police. Is that possible?

I don't know how something like that works. AFAIK, the accident report will be filed under the name of the deceased. Any evidence file would go to the CPS under the names of the potential defendants. It's a sudden death reportable to HM Coroner so there will be something there, which will note any trial because the coroner would have to take account of that. Once upon a time, a fatality in a road traffic accident had to be the subject of an inquest with a jury but AFAIK, that no longer applies. Again, sorry I cannot be more specific.

PS I believe the Coroner's Office would record this under the name of the deceased. I've just had a look to see if anything is available online but they are still in the days of quill pens.