Broken bike (CC licensed image by garryknight, www.flickr.com)
A lorry driver from Cornwall has been charged with causing the death by dangerous driving of two cyclists from Scotland who were killed in July last year while taking part in a charity ride from Land’s End to John O’Groats.
Andrew McMenigall and Toby Wallace, colleagues at the Edinburgh office of Aberdeen Asset Management, were just 40 miles into their 960-mile ride when they were killed on the A30 near Newquay on the morning of Tuesday 2 July last year.
The Daily Record reports that 32-year-old Robert Palmer from Bude has been charged with two counts of causing death by dangerous driving.
He has also been charged with another count of dangerous driving relating to a separate incident that took place on the A30 near Okehampton in September 2013.
Palmer has been bailed to appear at Bodmin Magistrates’ Court on 3 June.
Mr McMenigall was a former army officer who was married with two daughters, while Mr Wallace, originally from Philadelphia, was a member of a Boat Race winning crew as a student at Cambridge University and in 2012 rowed as part of an eight-man crew across the Atlantic.
The pair had aimed to raise £10,000 during their ride for two charities, the Kirsten Scott Memorial Trust and It’s Good 2 Give.
Following their deaths, donations rose to more than £50,000.
Their families said: "Members of the public were there when the accident happened and did everything they could to help. The emergency services were on the scene within minutes and did a valiant job.
"It must have been tremendously upsetting for the witnesses and the emergency services and we want to thank them for everything they did.
"We have been touched by the generosity of people from around the world; people who had never met Andrew or Toby but have been making donations in their memory. Their kindness has been truly overwhelming."
After their deaths last July, Aberdeen Asset Management chief executive Martin Gilbert said: “I knew both Andrew and Toby well. They were dedicated and popular members of our senior team.
“The fact that they died in such tragic circumstances while trying to help others less fortunate tells you much about their selflessness and humanity.”
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Born in Scotland, Simon moved to London aged seven and now lives in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds with his miniature schnauzer, Elodie. He fell in love with cycling one Saturday morning in 1994 while living in Italy when Milan-San Remo went past his front door. A daily cycle commuter in London back before riding to work started to boom, he's been news editor at road.cc since 2009. Handily for work, he speaks French and Italian. He doesn't get to ride his Colnago as often as he'd like, and freely admits he's much more adept at cooking than fettling with bikes.