Metropolitan Police officer found not guilty after suspect seriously injured when he was knocked off bike

A Metropolitan Police officer who knocked a suspected criminal from his bike has been cleared by a jury of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Arnold Taylor, aged 46, was seriously injured when PC Eugene Acheampong, 28, chased after him in a marked BMW police car in Wood Green, north London, in August 2019, reports ITV News.

Taylor and another man had allegedly been observed “tampering” with parked cars shortly beforehand, reports ITV News, with a second police officer who was in the car getting out to talk with them.

When Taylor made off on his bike, Acheampong gave chase, and the cyclist lost control and “just seemed to disappear,” the officer said in a police interview last year.

He sustained injuries including fractures to his cheek, ribs and vertebrae, collapsed lungs and a broken tooth, as well as collapsed lungs and was taken to the Royal London Hospital.

Southwark Crown Court heard that Acheampong, who denied the offence, was driving at 27mph when he hit the bike’s rear wheel, causing the rider to fall.

The jury yesterday found him not guilty on the charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and are still considering their verdict on the lesser charge of careless driving.

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