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Family of cyclist Kenny Lush, killed by hit-and-run driver, gets record compensation

CTC supported family & secured undisclosed damages

The family of a cyclist killed when he was hit by a driver in May 2009 has received compensation that the CTC says is the “highest ever sum of damages for a claim for fatal injury through the CTC’s insurance scheme.”

Father of four Kenny Lush, 47, was hit by motorist Deborah Hearn while on his way home from work on the A414 between Hatfield and Hertford.

Hearn left the scene but later gave herself up to police. She pleaded guilty to causing  death by careless driving and in March 2010 she was banned for 18 months and ordered to pay £2,500 costs, a sentence that left Kenny Lush's family "devastated."

She was spared a jail sentence as she was then heavily pregnant.

Slater & Gordon, lawyers for the national cycling charity CTC pursued a civil claim against Hearn, which was settled last week.

"We don’t feel the driver responsible has been held accountable." - Karin Lush

Kenny’s mother Karin Lush said: “No amount of money can ever bring my son back.

“We have lost a son, husband, father and brother and we don’t feel the driver responsible for killing him has been held accountable in any way.

“She will probably have no idea how much we have gone through and how our family have suffered financially as a result of her actions that night.

“She killed him and drove off; there is no way we will ever get over that but it is some relief to know that his family and children will be looked after and have some degree of security even if they don’t have a father.”

The CTC has supported Kenny’s family throughout the process and has provided them with financial aid when needed.

Memorial race

An annual race has been set up in Kenny’s memory as he was an active and long standing member of the cycling community.

Liz Dux, lawyer from Slater & Gordon said: “I hope the significant settlement brings some sort of closure for the family and allows them to have some security for the future but nothing can bring Kenny back.

“Through representing the family since Kenny’s tragic death, I have got to know them very well. I have seen what a tremendous presence he was to the business and how hard it has been for them to keep the family firm going.

“The most upsetting aspect of this case were the actions of the motorist. The family just cannot reconcile their suffering to her lenient sentence.

“As a society we have still got the balance all wrong. Hopefully this settlement will go some small way towards lessening the pain for the family.”       

No winners

CTC chief executive Gordon Seabright said: “There are no winners in this tragic story, but CTC are pleased that our partners at Slater & Gordon Lawyers have been able to secure this settlement for the family of Kenny Lush. Our work to win justice for cyclists in the face of scandalous sentencing has never been so important as now.”

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

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5 comments

Avatar
K Stand Ken | 10 years ago
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I was unaware of this case until today, but I find it disgusting.
Causing the death of a cyclist with a car/van/lorry should incur an AUTOMATIC prison sentence. No matter that the CPS dress it down as "careless" driving.
Take very good care of your "kept-yourself-out-of jail-card" infant Ms Hearn, there are some very nasty people out there - specially on the roads. So for God's sake don't let him/her out on a bike !

Avatar
TeamCC | 10 years ago
0 likes

I wonder why they hide the settlement yet are allowed to say it was a record. Does it have to do with how the first case went or is it the insurance company not wanting the figure to be published as a benchmark? Capital Cycles

Avatar
jollygoodvelo replied to TeamCC | 10 years ago
0 likes
TeamCC wrote:

I wonder why they hide the settlement yet are allowed to say it was a record. Does it have to do with how the first case went or is it the insurance company not wanting the figure to be published as a benchmark? Capital Cycles

Whether published or not it would be held in the legal records I believe.

Avatar
mrchrispy | 10 years ago
0 likes

kill in a car and get a life ban. simple. end of story.
couple of them in the press would soon focus the minds of the steel box dwellers. same it would cost a few deaths but we'd get there in the end.

Avatar
mad_scot_rider | 10 years ago
0 likes

As commented in the article, a hollow victory - while I hope the money helps the family and provides financial security while they grieve, I would rather have seen real justince done

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