Judge dismisses £1m Halfords crash lawsuit

A High Court judge has dismissed “with regret” a £1 million lawsuit brought against Halfords by a Gravesend cyclist who suffered permanent facial disfigurement when he crashed his bike – caused, he claimed, by a faulty steerer tube that snapped.

Joseph Love, now aged 24, sustained the injuries when he fell head first into a crash barrier on a footpath alongside the A2 between Bluewater and Gravesend, reports Kent Online.

He had bought his Saracen Raw 2 mountain bike from Halfords the previous year, and his lawyers had argued that the steerer tube was defective when he acquired it.

But after hearing from expert witnesses, Judge Sir Colin Mackay found that it was probable that there was nothing wrong with the bike when it was bought in May 2008.

It had been assembled and checked by staff at Halfords, and had also been through a service, with no trace of a defect found.

The judge said he believed the steerer tube snapped after the cyclist, then aged 19, hit a row of posts because he lost his concentration while “riding too fast” to make up ground on his friend.

He added: “I am obliged, with great regret because of the severity of this young man’s injuries, to dismiss this claim.”