E-bike rider Thomas Hanlon cries after being cleared of killing pedestrian

An electric bike rider cried in court as he was cleared of killing a pedestrian by careless driving.

Thomas Hanlon, 32, was riding back from work at more than 10mph over the 20mph speed limit when he knocked over Sakine Cihan in Dalston, east London.

The Old Bailey heard that Ms Cihan, 56, died the next day in hospital from a “catastrophic” head injury.

Mr Hanlon, a bricklayer, denied causing death by careless driving in the incident on 28 August 2018.

He held his head in his hands and sobbed as the verdicts were read out.

It is believed to be the first UK case of a person dying after being hit by an e-bike.

Mr Hanlon had been going 30mph but slowed before he crashed into Ms Cihan – who had tried to cross despite the lights being green for road traffic, the jury was told.

A witness said he had thought “Jesus that’s fast” when Mr Hanlon passed him, before seeing “arms and legs everywhere, flying in the air”.

Another said their heads had collided, leaving the pedestrian motionless in the road as the rider got up “dazed and confused”.

Mr Hanlon admitted to police that he had left the scene but said he’d had no time to swerve when Ms Cihan suddenly stepped into the road.

“She rushed out in front of me to cross and she didn’t even look at me,” he said in an interview.

The court heard it wasn’t possible to tell from CCTV whether she had looked both ways before stepping out.

Judge Mark Dennis QC said: “It is not possible to tell whether she looked to her right or left when doing so – as one should.

“Had she looked to her right she would have seen the defendant 16.5 metres away in the middle of the oncoming lane.

“It may be she assumed the lane was clear because of the absence of any traffic passing from her right to left.

“As it happened there was some traffic passing from her left to right in the far lane.

“It is, you may think, entirely possible that she was distracted by seeing a gap across the road and did not check to her right.”

Prosecutor Nathan Rasiah said that even though the lights were green Mr Hanlon was travelling without due care or attention.

He said the bike should have been classed as a motorcycle because it could illegally travel faster than the 15.5mph limit for electric bikes.

Mr Rasiah said: “The vehicle that Mr Hanlon was riding was fitted with a motor that could propel the vehicle at a much greater speed.

“In short, the prosecution case against him was that he was driving without due care and attention and that carelessness was a cause of the collision and the death of Ms Cihan.”

Mr Hanlon accepted he did not have a licence or insurance but denied there had been a fault in his driving which contributed in a more than a minimal way to the death.

The jury deliberated for over an hour and found him not guilty of all charges, including an alternative charge of careless driving.

E-bikes have an electric motor to help the rider pedal along – but in the UK it must be no more than 250 watts and cut out at 15.5mph.

(c) Sky News 2020: E-bike rider Thomas Hanlon cries after being cleared of killing pedestrian