London cyclist strangled by taxi driver cleared of assault

A bike rider charged with assaulting a taxi driver in an incident which left the cyclist himself unconscious after the cabbie apparently strangled him with his own scarf has walked free from court after magistrates said the driver’s evidence was “not credible.”

As reported on road.cc in June, Jared Kelly, aged 39, issued an appeal via the London Cyclist blog for witnesses to the incident, which took place in March this year on London’s Oxford Street, to help him in his defence. Word of his predicament quickly spread via cycling websites and Twitter, and was also picked up by the Evening Standard.

Mr Kelly had been riding along Oxford Street, close to the junction with Dean Street, when a black cab cut in front of him, making him collide with the rear of the taxi and causing him to fall of his bike.

In the subsequent heated exchange between the cyclist and the taxi driver, the latter took hold of Mr Kelly’s scarf and strangled him, causing him to lose consciousness and leaving red marks around his neck.

According to one eyewitness, it had been Mr Kelly who had attacked the cab driver, but that witness was unable to attend the hearing at South Western Magistrates’ Court due to being out of the country, and attempts by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to have the case adjourned were rejected.

Instead, the Evening Standard reports, Mr Kelly produced two witnesses, Lee Sattaur, manager at H&M in Oxford Street and Matthew Gowan, a student at Westminster University, who supported his version of events, who were described as “Good Samaritans" for having stepped forward.

"What has finally happened has been utterly remarkable," Mr Kelly told the newspaper. "It’s been fantastic. I couldn’t have done this a year ago or 18 months ago. Everything fell into place."

He described his ordeal as a "Kafka-esque nightmare," saying, "It was all completely surreal. I was strangled until I was unconscious on Oxford Street and the result was I was handcuffed and arrested."

Mr Gowan had been sent away by a policeman as he sought to speak to Mr Kelly following the incident, with the cyclist saying: "He was so moved by what he saw on the day that he got on a bus and wrote pages and pages of notes to remind him," Mr Kelly said.

"Then the following day he went into the police station in Regent Street and reported it. The judge made a special mention about his extraordinary public service."

A CPS spokeswoman admitted to the Evening Standard that the court "didn’t find the victim’s evidence credible".