Cycling Silk calls for crash sentencing review

The cycling barrister Martin Porter who blogs under the name the Cycling Silk has reiterated his call for a review of sentencing procedures for motorists convicted of killing or seriously injuring cyclists.

He told the Evening Standard newspaper: "The excuses of not seeing cyclists seem to be too readily accepted by the police and the CPS so there isn't a prosecution when there should be.

“Judges should be handing down stiffer sentences and prosecutors should be more ambitious in the choice of charges and the decision to prosecute. It's up to a judge and a jury to accept whether an excuse is good enough."

His words come in the wake of the death of former heavyweight boxing champion Gary Mason, who died last week following a collision with a van and also as an inquest into the death of Spanish-born, London-based academic and author David Vilaseca-Perez is opened.

Mr Vilaseca-Perez died under the wheels of a left-turning lorry that apparently did not see him as he rode near Tower Bridge just 100 yards from his home.

The lorry driver is not facing any criminal charges whereas the driver involved in the death of Gary Mason has been charged with offence of causing death by careless driving, a lesser charge than that of causing death by dangerous driving.

Debra Rolfe, CTC's campaign co-ordinator, told the Standard: "There are a lot of areas where the law does let down cyclists - whether at the level of the police failing to collect enough evidence to the CPS not prosecuting or the courts often convicting to a lesser offence. This needs to change."