A former Lord Mayor of Oxford, Patsy Yardley, was knocked off her bicycle and knocked out cold on the Banbury Road in Summertown. Heather Simpson first saw her mother in A&E at the John Radcliffe. “I was horrified but relieved she wasn’t dead or had suffered further damage. It’s not acceptable that this could happen, but I’m thankful it was not worse.”

When she was Oxford’s Lord Mayor in 1989 and 1990 I attended several events with Patsy Yardley, pictured left, and she looked resplendent in the red civic robes and wearing the golden chain of office. When we met shortly after that accident on November 24 her face was still swollen with black and yellow bruises. A small bone behind her right eye was broken and that part of her face was coloured deep violet.

I could see the stitches in her scalp and forehead. Her right ear was deeply torn and held on by more stitches. Instead of wearing a golden chain, Patsy Yardley brandished a big surgical boot on her right leg.

She described the accident. “About 10.45am on Monday, November 24, I was cycling from Belbroughton Road via the Banbury Road to the osteopath’s in Summertown and am told that the cars in both directions had stopped to let me cross the junction. I had apparently got about two-thirds of the way across when a motorcyclist came outside the northbound queue of traffic and knocked me off. The southbound cars went on their way, as did the first two cars in the northbound queue. However the driver in the third car stopped to try to help.”

The cars in the front row seats of this tragedy and pedestrian observers did not stay to give any details to the police, so there are no witnesses.

The driver of the motorcycle claimed that Mrs Yardley was cycling in the Banbury Road cycle route on the footpath and swerved into the Banbury Road, so he could not avoid hitting her. He said that he didn’t know the origin of her trip was from Belbroughton Road on the other side of the Banbury Road. She had not even crossed completely over the road – much less could she have reached the cycle path.

“The accident could not possibly have happened the way the motorcyclist described,” said Mrs Yardley, “and when I pointed that out to the policeman he agreed.”

A few days ago, she received a call from Thames Valley Police to say that as no witnesses have come forward so far they are dropping any thought of prosecution. “Since no public-spirited witnesses have come forward, I am stymied,” she said.

The one Good Samaritan who did stop was in the third car back and far enough away so the people in the car could not see the accident; but while waiting for the ambulance the driver did hear the motorcyclist clearly say “This is the second time I have had an accident in two months.”

If any of the drivers who stopped at the Belbroughton junction with the Banbury Road at 10.45 am on Monday, November 24, and saw a woman knocked off her bike by a motorcyclist, please contact me at the Oxford Mail.

I would be prepared to help anyone in an accident like this. The fact that Mrs Yardley was the Lord Mayor of Oxford has no bearing on this case except for one aspect.

I’ve interviewed several Lord Mayors over the years. I may not like the fur-trimmed robes, the unusual headgear and the strange ceremonies, but I know what goes on behind the pomp and circumstance. I’ve seen close up the work they do, especially with local charities. In their ceremonial roles they put out a helping hand to people who are homeless, who live on the streets, who have addictions, who come out of prison with no support from the community. Lord Mayors of Oxford have time and again stepped into the breach and made a positive difference in many lives. For someone like Mrs Yardley, who has given so much, to be given so little in return that no one will even stand up and be counted when she needs help is at least disappointing.

But this accident also raises some serious questions on the limits and use of police powers. Thames Valley Police have the name and contact details of the motorcyclist. They even took his vehicle away to inspect it. They have a victim. They also have statements from Mrs Yardley and the person who ran into her. The stories are contradictory. Why could the police not put this case before the judicial system and resolve it that way? And if the police for some reason do not want to prosecute, what are the options for the victim? How do they appeal the lack of police action?