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'Incredibly talented' police officer killed after being hit by motorist while cycling

The 37-year-old was 'well respected' among her colleagues...

An 'incredibly talented police officer' died when she was hit by a motorist while cycling in Carmarthenshire.

The BBC report Sgt Lynwen Thomas was declared dead at the scene of the crash, involving a van, at about 18:45 GMT on Thursday, on the westbound A40 near Bancyfelin.

Sgt Thomas, 37, worked as a heritage crime specialist at Dyfed Powys Police.

The van driver has since been arrested and questioned on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and released under investigation.

Dyfed-Powys Police has appealed for witnesses to contact them.

Chief Constable Mark Collins said it was a 'terribly sad day' for the force. 

A police spokesperson said: "It is with great sadness that we confirm the tragic and sudden loss of a member of the Dyfed-Powys Police family,.

"Sergeant Lynwen Thomas was a well-respected serving police officer, who passed away following a collision yesterday evening.

"Our thoughts are with her family, friends and colleagues, who have all been offered specialist support."

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24 comments

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brooksby | 3 years ago
16 likes

Very quick to arrest and question the van driver, instead of diving into the usual 'where was he riding? what was he wearing? did he have a helmet?' guff...

(edited down)

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Rendel Harris replied to brooksby | 3 years ago
11 likes
brooksby wrote:

Very quick to arrest and question the van driver, instead of diving into the usual 'where was he riding? what was he wearing? did he have a helmet?' guff...

 

Nothing to do with the cyclist being a police officer, I'm sure...

A) Hardly the appropriate time to be grinding axes;

B) Drivers in fatal incidents are routinely arrested so they can be interviewed under caution and with lawyers present, as much for their own protection as anything else.

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brooksby replied to Rendel Harris | 3 years ago
4 likes

So should I wait a few weeks after this event to raise my (valid, if inappropriately timed) comment?

(TBH by the time I'd considered this my comment had ten likes and it would not have made sense as an empty comment)

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Rendel Harris replied to brooksby | 3 years ago
5 likes
brooksby wrote:

So should I wait a few weeks after this event to raise my (valid, if inappropriately timed) comment?

And until more facts are known, yes. For all we know the van driver could have been driving with no MOT and defective brakes or 30mph over the speed limit and that was why s/he was so quickly arrested. I'm no great fan of the police and especially not of some of their attitudes towards cyclists, but I do think that implying that they've only acted promptly in this case because it's one of their own isn't really fair or approriate until further information is available. If it's then shown that they did give the case special treatment I'll gladly join you in criticizing them.

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mdavidford replied to Rendel Harris | 3 years ago
1 like

Rather surprised comments are enabled here in the first place - seems like an error of judgement on road.cc's part.

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Smiffi replied to mdavidford | 3 years ago
2 likes

Yes, why not censor discussion as though theres something to hide.

This is tragically sad for all who knew her, and not a time for censoring comment or discussion which may lead to averting similar occurrences in the future.

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ktache replied to Smiffi | 3 years ago
2 likes

Because there is an upcoming trial.

If you have a look at other stories on this site you will see Comments on this are closed, when there is an upcoming or ongoing trial.

 

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Hirsute replied to Smiffi | 3 years ago
1 like

Sub judice applies when someone is arrested nothing to do with censorship.

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mdavidford replied to Smiffi | 3 years ago
2 likes

All the article is reporting is that someone died. What more is there to say, beyond ktache's first comment? Even then, although it's the appropriate reaction, I  doubt that it really does anything to help those affected. How can what can only be baseless speculation at this point help to avert similar occurrences?

So at best comments will be pretty meaningless; at worst they're liable to be offensive or harmful.

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Projectcyclingf... replied to mdavidford | 3 years ago
0 likes
mdavidford wrote:

Rather surprised comments are enabled here in the first place - seems like an error of judgement on road.cc's part.

Twitter has no issues on comments being made on this fatal collision, so why NOT here on Road.cc?

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bobrayner replied to Projectcyclingfitness | 3 years ago
11 likes
Projectcyclingfitness wrote:
mdavidford wrote:

Rather surprised comments are enabled here in the first place - seems like an error of judgement on road.cc's part.

Twitter has no issues on comments being made on this fatal collision, so why NOT here on Road.cc?

"But it happens on Twitter!" is a very low bar, ethically speaking. 

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Billy1mate replied to Projectcyclingfitness | 3 years ago
1 like

Road CC's has a morale compass maybe. Terribly sad news for all involved, thoughts are with them.

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Projectcyclingf... replied to Rendel Harris | 3 years ago
4 likes
Rendel Harris wrote:
brooksby wrote:

Very quick to arrest and question the van driver, instead of diving into the usual 'where was he riding? what was he wearing? did he have a helmet?' guff...

 

Nothing to do with the cyclist being a police officer, I'm sure...

A) Hardly the appropriate time to be grinding axes;

B) Drivers in fatal incidents are routinely arrested so they can be interviewed under caution and with lawyers present, as much for their own protection as anything else.

Considering that vast numbers of cyclist victims are willfully let down by cops, despite compelling evidence against dangerous drivers, it's understandable any criticism towards cops treating cops more favourably than a civilian, when a cop becomes a victim.
I suppose you have NOT been a victim of a dangerous driver crashing into you, and who could have killed you...
>and then having to experience cops playing underhanded tactics, including lying about eyewitnesses and ignoring their submitted evidence, and then being evasive when you attempt to contact...
>in the end, you realise they've been playing you for time, as after 6 months period, cops know they can wash their hands and nothing you do about it.

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Richard D replied to Projectcyclingfitness | 3 years ago
1 like

Ive seen first hand many times that the Police are prepared to push harder for justice when it's one of their own.  The rest of us might be forgiven for feeling when we report a crime that we're "just a cyclist", whereas this chap was a policeman on a bike - totally different.

FWVLIW I've reported three crimes - a sexual assault, a collision and threats to kill; in all three cases, the driver wasn't traced.  Quite what efforts were tried when cars are all registered is an unknown to me.

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wtjs replied to Richard D | 3 years ago
1 like

 in all three cases, the driver wasn't traced

Trying to separate this quotation from the original topic of the tragic death of the cyclist: I have experienced this suspicious police dodge myself. The specific words were: the driver was not traced. Not 'the driver could not be traced'- there was no doubt about the registration plate or the correct appropriate vehicle. This is not a large crime-ridden urban area where all the vehicles have dodgy plates, so I think these careful words mean 'we, the police, did not want to identify this driver'. We then have to speculate on the possible reasons for the reluctance.

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greenthing replied to brooksby | 3 years ago
0 likes

What a ridiculous comment. Firstly if you had read the article properly you would have seen it was a female officer. Secondly she was riding on a road and was hit by a vehicle. It doesn't matter what she was wearing, she was hit and killed by a motorist. What did you expect the police to do, arrest the killed cyclist? This is typical of non-cycling motorists who have no clue how vulnerable cyclists are. I am a cyclist AND police trained driver.

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Richard D replied to greenthing | 3 years ago
1 like
greenthing wrote:

What a ridiculous comment.

I think you missed the point the OP was making - which is that in an awful lot of such stories, someone (sometimes the journalist, sometimes the police themselves) will mention the presence of a helmet or hi-viz, despite the fact that it clearly has absolutely nothing to do with the incident.  We've become so conditioned to this inbuilt victim-blaming when a motor vehicle is involved that - to make the point - the OP thought that it needed adding here.

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wtjs replied to Richard D | 3 years ago
0 likes

 lot of such stories, someone (sometimes the journalist, sometimes the police themselves) will mention the presence of a helmet or hi-viz

Even though I am frequently castigated on these pages for being a helmet enthusiast, I certainly don't support this implicit victim blaming which is essentially an attempted justification of 'I didn't see him and I didn't mean to do it, all these cyclists are invisible as they pass red traffic lights, the sun was in my eyes so I had to go faster' etc. etc.

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ktache | 3 years ago
28 likes

My thoughts are with the family, friends and colleagues of Lynwen Thomas.

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WiznaeMe replied to ktache | 3 years ago
4 likes

Agreed. An appropriate comment to make in view of the extremely sad outcome of this crash.

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nikkispoke replied to ktache | 3 years ago
3 likes

I agree, it is an extremely sad time for her family, friends and colleagues. I believe her colleagues would have acted in the same way upon seeing this tragedy irrespective of her being a police officer. I only wish that changes are made to the road network so that it is made safer for people to cycle in the future.

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cbrndc replied to nikkispoke | 3 years ago
1 like

Disagree; the police only take notice when it's one of their own. Anyone else go get f*cked. Experience is a strong learning tool. Hampshire constabulary take note.

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rct replied to cbrndc | 3 years ago
1 like

You can't generalise about every police officer, just as you can't generalise about indivual cyclists.  Your comment is not very appropriate given the topic.

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jh2727 replied to rct | 3 years ago
1 like
rct wrote:

You can't generalise about every police officer, just as you can't generalise about indivual cyclists.  Your comment is not very appropriate given the topic.

You certainly can't generalise about every officer, when some forces have a much better record for taking motoring offences seriously.

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