Toyota 'hit-and-run driver' accused of leaving cyclist for dead

The cyclist struck from behind by hit-and-run driver Edward Hinchliffe’s silver Toyota Corolla, Simon Chesher, died in hospital a month after the crash in August 2020.

His cycling companion on the day of the crash on the A417 Reading Road, Pamela Stokell, told jurors at Oxford Crown Court yesterday (August 29) she heard a sound behind her, then saw a car swerve in front before watching a bicycle fly over the top of the vehicle.

Paying tribute to him from the witness box, Ms Stokell said: “Simon was a very experienced, very skilled, very safe rider. He used to check absolutely everything before we set off.

“He always had lights. He always had contact numbers. He always made sure he had reflective gear. He always made sure the tyres were pumped to exactly the right pressure.

“You felt safe with Simon.”

Hinchliffe, 77, denies causing Mr Chesher’s death by dangerous driving and a second charge of driving dangerously after the collision. He has admitted the alternative, lesser charge of causing death by careless driving.

Opening the case against the driver, prosecutor Robert Brown told the 12-strong jury on Tuesday afternoon: “The issue for you to decide will be whether his driving was dangerous rather than merely careless.”

He added of the defendant: “He accepts that his driving fell below that expected of a competent and careful driver because that is what careless driving means.

“The prosecution say that his driving fell far below the standard expected of a competent and careful driver and it would have been obvious to a competent and careful driver that driving in that manner would be dangerous.”

Simon Chesher in a tribute photo released by his family Picture: Thames Valley Police

Driving behind Hinchliffe’s silver hatchback, Emily Wallace told the jury she had been more aware of the car as it pulled out in front of her ‘at quite short notice’ on an otherwise quiet stretch of road in Wantage.

It stopped at a green traffic light, was doing around 20mph on 30mph roads and driving close to the kerb, she said.

“I was definitely very aware and conscious of keeping my distance,” she said. “The way they were driving made me a bit unsteady and I didn’t want to be any closer.”

She saw the two cyclists ahead on the Reading Road and expected the silver car in front to overtake on the straight road. “I couldn’t see how close the driver was to the cyclists in front. The next thing there was a bike and a person going up in the air.”

Mr Chesher’s cycling companion, with whom he had planned to do a 70km ride and had set off from Wantage at around 8.30am on August 2, 2020, told the jury that she saw the car veer in front of her before a bicycle flew over the top of the vehicle.

“At the time I didn’t realise it was Simon’s bike. My first instinct was to stop the bike and check that Simon was okay, because to my mind he was still behind me and I thought the bicycle [that came over the top of the car] might have hit him, because it nearly hit me,” Pamela Stokell said.

Ms Stokell said she looked back to check on her riding companion. He was not there. “I immediately looked forward and saw Simon some distance ahead at the side of the road and the car disappearing into the distance.”

Other motorists whose statements were read by prosecutor Mr Brown described seeing the silver hatchback following the incident.

It had a heavily damaged windshield, with one eyewitness saying it looked like the window had been ‘shot’ and saying she thought the ‘whole thing was extremely suspicious’.

A van driver who spotted the damaged Toyota in Didcot said he saw it go through a red light and strike the kerb ‘a couple of times’. His girlfriend photographed the vehicle and later reported it to the police.

Mr Brown told the jury that the car was found in Lydalls Road, Didcot, within hours of the collision. Hinchliffe was the registered keeper of the car.

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It was said he had taken the train to London to visit a friend. Police officers in the capital arrested him later that day and took him to Wood Green police station where he answered no comment to all questions put to him, Mr Brown said.

Mr Chesher died from his injuries on September 2, a month after the crash.

Hinchliffe, of Ormond Road, Wantage, denies causing death by dangerous driving and dangerous driving. The trial continues.