A gifted scientist died almost instantly after her bicycle was pulled under the wheels of a left-turning tipper truck, an inquest was told on Friday.
Dr Katherine Giles, of Dibdin House, Maida Vale was killed at 8:25am on April 8 last year as she travelled from a meeting to University College London in Bloomsbury, where she was a lecturer.
Coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe, sitting at Westminster Coroner’s Court recorded the 35-year-old as suffering from a traumatic road death after hearing how she was at the junction of Palace Street and Victoria Street near Victoria Station when lorry driver James Matovu turned left into Victoria Street, pulling her bike under the wheels and then crushing her.
CCTV pictures, not shown in court, were said to give a very clear view of the incident and showed how the tipper truck kept its left indicator on after it turned out of a construction site opposite the Cardinal Walk shopping centre and waited at the traffic lights to turn into Victoria Street to drive towards the Houses of Parliament. An audible warning from the lorry was also announcing its left turn.
Dr Giles was seen stopping on the inside front of the truck by witness Charles Lousada, who was cycling behind her. He said: “Everything seemed to happen so slowly. It looked like she was trying to push the bike away from the tipper, then one wheel of the truck made contact with her front wheel and she flipped backwards, then another wheel came in contact with her.
“There was no screaming. I threw my bike onto the floor and ran to the girl. She was motionless on her back, her eyes were open. There was brain exposed and I knew she was dead. Any first aid would not have assisted with the massive head injuries.”
The coroner said Mr Matovu was ‘oblivious’ to the collision and only stopped further up the street when he was flagged down by an off-duty police officer. He then ran back to the scene but Mr Lousada told a member of the public to stop him seeing the horror of the scene.
Detective Sergeant Matt Austin, of the Met police’s road accident unit, said there was insufficient evidence of any offence being committed by the driver to give a realistic prospect of conviction so the case was not referred to the Crown Prosecution Service.
The court heard how Mr Matovu had more than the six regulatory mirrors required by law, as well as the audible left turning warning. In a statement, he said: “I was very sorry that Katherine Giles died as a result of the incident. I was very shocked and upset.”
Dr Giles, who had a first class degree in earth and space sciences and was a leading expert in polar sea ice thinning, was previously described as ‘ready to provide the next generation of leadership in that field’. She was the second out of 14 cyclists killed in London last year, and the first of nine killed by vans or lorries.
Her parents, Robert and Albina Giles, and friends were not at the inquest, although they were aware of it.
Coroner, Dr Radcliffe, warned cyclists about the danger of riding up the inside of HGVs, and said: “I don’t wish to place any fault or blame on the victim on this occasion. But I can highlight once again the danger of coming up on the near-side of lorries. It’s been recognised as causing many deaths in London.”
She emphasised that neither Dr Giles or Mr Matovu were to blame for the accident which she apportioned to unfortunate timing.
