Another lorry driver has got off after killing a cyclist – no surprise there, really.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/mar/30/lorry-driver-tells-court-how-he-pleaded-with-injured-cyclist-to-hold-on

However, is this the same Vincent Doyle who killed a cyclist in 1999?

http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2004/oct04/oct11news2

Is there any way to get more info on the older case? Seems suspicious that a lorry driver with the same name kills two cyclists in the same way.

Wow – that’s some proper detective work ! The court records should be a matter of public record, I would start with finding out where the case was heard – what type of court etc. Records this old may have been transferred to The National Archives, but they will need more to track it down.

Also, there may not be much more that is personally identifiable in the court records than the name.

Not my detective work, it’s been pointed out a couple of places – but no-one seems to have got any further.

http://www.movingtargetzine.com/article/causing-death-by-careless-driving

“According to the girlfriend of Danny ‘Reidar’ Farr, witness statements given in court suggested that the driver was not signalling when he turned left. Despite this, the driver, Vincent Doyle, was acquitted.”

http://www.visordown.com/forum/general/how-mad-is-riding-in-london/162186.html

Also, there may not be much more that is personally identifiable in the court records than the name.

Court record should tell you the age of the person in the 1999 incident shouldn’t it? Wouldn’t be 100% proof but would either rule it out, or be very, very coincidental…

This driver would have been around 28 at the time of the first incident.
So that fits with the girlfiend’s comments:
I happen to know (through attending the inquest and digging around) that the person driving the skip lorry has only had his HGV licence for four months at that time. So the lorry driver was very inexperienced.
More info
And the two incidents were in London, only 5 miles apart.

He hasn’t got off with it – “the trial continues”, according to that article. Unless you have an update?

Cleared according to Evening Standard

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/familys-heartbreak-as-lorry-driver-cleared-over-cyclists-death-a3215191.html

They’d only be able to use it sentencing rather than in the case though even if he had been found guilty first time?

doesn’t sound like it was his totally his fault though

Ben, I did some digging on this in the last day or two (including searching court records). I found more information than is given or linked above, but not enough to absolutely confirm that they were one and the same. That said, I certainly found none that implied that they weren’t. I should point out that there does appear to be another person of the same name in the industry, but he appears never to have been a driver.

I should also point out that my motive (beyond general curiosity) was not to make some sort of attack on anyone; it was simply to establish whether the driver was the same and, if so, then to discuss the phrase “unblemished driving record” as reportedly used by the defence. (Which may still happen, if I find more info…)

discuss the phrase “unblemished driving record” as reportedly used by the defence.

That was my first thought too, but if the Guardian article linked by the OP is accurate then the phrase used was “spotless driving licence” which doesn’t mean quite the same thing unfortunately. (Unless that isn’t what was said?)

Mm, perennial frustration of mine: media reports are very frequently chock full of errors.

from the guardian story…

He told jurors that he never saw Gehlau frantically waving her arms or heard her shouting before she fell under the lorry,

is it me or does this sound very much like a witness suggested the victim was shouting and waving her arms prior to being driven over falling under the lorry?

In which case this isn’t some wreckless cyclist riding up the inside of an indicating lorry, mid turn and more likely to be some **** driver not watching where he’s putting his “half house sized” vehicle.
again.

I also think there are errors when the driver states the cyclist died just as the ambulance arrived. I’m sure this was the cyclist that featured in “An hour to save your life” last year where many people tried their best to save her and kept her alive for a few days which provided some comfort for her family.

RIP

In reply to #Hedgehog:
“I also think there are errors when the driver states the cyclist died just as the ambulance arrived.”

It looks like you’re right. There are two media reports which both say she died in hospital 3 days later:
* http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3517546/Widower-young-cyclist-knocked-killed-lorry-central-London-collapses-tears-driver-cleared-court.html
* http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/family-of-cyclist-killed-at-ludgate-circus-urge-mayor-to-seize-opportunity-to-improve-safety-9810327.html
* http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/janina-gehlau-lorry-driver-should-have-seen-cyclist-for-up-to-five-seconds-before-fatal-collision-a3213666.html

Roger Geffen
CTC, the national cycling charity

This says he had his HGV license for 25 years. The 1999 crash comment about suggested that driver had license for 4 months. So that would point to it not being him.

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