Cyclist seriously hurt in tractor collision (21/1/09)

A cyclist has been airlifted to hospital after he collided with a tractor in Northamptonshire.

The accident happened at 3pm yesterday on a gated road from Thornby to West Haddon when a red Manitou forklift loader collided with a blue mountain bike.

The driver of the agricultural vehicle escaped injury, but the 61-year-old cyclist received serious injuries.

Police are appealing for witnesses who may have seen the rider of the mountain bike prior to the collision, on the roads around Guilsborough, Cold Ashby and Thornby.

• UPDATE 23/09/10

A KEEN cyclist died in hospital almost a year after being paralysed when he was struck by a tractor on a country road, a court heard.

The statement of John Cole, aged 62, from Guilsborough, was read to a jury at Northampton Crown Court yesterday, detailing how he was injured and paralysed.

He suffered a fractured pelvis and ankle as well as two fractured vertebrae, causing him to became a quadriplegic, when he was in collision with a fork lift agricultural vehicle while cycling on a gated road between West Haddon and Guilsborough on January 21, 2009, it is alleged.

Robin Williams, aged 31, was driving a tractor at Thornby Grange Farm, and is on trial accused of causing Mr Cole’s death by careless driving.

Matthew Lowe, prosecuting, said Mr Cole spent the majority of 2009 receiving treatment for his injuries.

He was discharged from hospital in December 2009, but was re-admitted with respiratory difficulties within days, and died of pneumonia on Boxing Day, 2009.

Mr Lowe told the jury: “You will hear from two pathologists who will give evidence that the exact cause of death was pneumonia, which in turn was a direct consequence of the injuries he suffered on January 21, 2009. As Professor Guy Rutty puts it, quadriplegia renders an individual liable to a number of complications including pneumonia, associated with immobility and aspiration – unable to expel foreign bodies from the lungs.

“You will hear from a defence pathologist who will assert Mr Cole’s death is unconnected to what happened and the injuries sustained. That is one of the central issues you will have to consider. Another central issue you will have to grapple with is whether the defendant’s driving was without due care and attention.”

The jury heard from Mr Cole’s wife of 40 years, Terri, who described how her paralysed husband told her what had happened. She said: “His words had a profound effect upon me. He said ‘I think I know how it had happened. I felt a huge impact from behind and fell heavily to the ground and could not move.’ He said ‘I heard another tractor and thought it would run over me’.”

Mr Cole’s statement was then read to the jury. It stated: “I was aware I could not move. All I can remember is seeing people’s boots.”

He added: “I was not travelling at great speed and just cycling along at a normal pace. I’ve no explanation other than someone knocked me off my bike.”

Williams, of Welford Road, Thornby denies causing death by careless driving. The trial continues.

• UPDATE 28/9/11

A TRACTOR driver who admitted careless driving when a cyclist was left paralysed, has been acquitted of causing his death.

Robin Williams, aged 31, pleaded guilty to careless driving after keen cyclist John Cole, aged 62, suffered serious injuries while cycling on a gated road between West Haddon and Guilsborough in January 2009. In July 2009, Mr Williams was fined and had five points put on his licence.

Mr Cole was left a quadriplegic, having suffered a fractured pelvis and ankle as well as two fractured vertebrae.

But he died almost a year later – on Boxing Day 2009 – from pneumonia which Home Office pathologist Professor Guy Rutty said was as a direct result of his injuries. Northampton Crown Court heard that as Mr Williams had already been convicted of careless driving, the Attorney General had to grant permission for him to be prosecuted with causing Mr Cole’s death by careless driving, a year after he was paralysed.

Mr Williams, of Welford Road, Thornby, pleaded not guilty and a jury yesterday unanimously acquitted him of the more serious charge.

Giving evidence, he said he could not be sure whether he had struck Mr Cole but had felt a “bump or a judder” while driving the seven-tonne vehicle.

He said: “I believed at the time I had hit the front wheel of the bike. I tried ringing for an ambulance but I could not get a signal where I was so I ran to the next house and asked them to call. I ran back to the scene, very shook up, confused.”

Anthony Metzer, defending, said: “Did you have any awareness or knowledge about a person on any vehicle before the bump?”

Mr Williams said: “No. I felt I was driving with good standards, with competence.”

Mr Metzer added: “Obviously, you know Mr Cole sadly suffered very serious consequences, for some reason. How does that make you feel? Was there anything in your driving that you could have done differently?”

Mr Williams said: “I feel very sorry for his family and upset at what happened. In terms of my driving, no, I’d not really do anything different.”

Matthew Lowe, prosecuting, had told the jury: “You will hear from a defence pathologist who will assert Mr Cole’s death is unconnected to what happened and the injuries sustained. That is one of the central issues you will have to consider.”

Mr Williams declined to comment on leaving court.