Sir Keir Starmer has been interviewed by police after a cyclist was injured in a collision involving a car driven by the leader of the opposition in north west London on Sunday lunchtime. The rider was taken to hospital, but there has been no update on his condition.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police are continuing to investigate the incident, which happened outside the Grafton Pub, close to the Labour leader’s home in Kentish Town, reports The Sun.
Nicolas James told the newspaper: “I was walking and there was a bang. A loud bang.
“I didn’t witness it directly but could hear the impact.
“I saw what happened after. The cyclist was on the pavement, he was holding his arm. He looked like he was in a lot of pain.
“There were people helping the cyclist. He just remained on the floor in pain. They looked concerned for him.”
Another local described how two police cars and an ambulance attended the incident.
A spokesman for Starmer said: “Keir was involved in a minor road traffic accident on Sunday.
“He spoke to a British Transport Police officer who attended the scene and swapped details with the officer and the other individual involved.
“Keir stayed at the scene until the ambulance arrived.
“Later that afternoon, he reported the incident to a police station in accordance with the law.
“Since the incident, Keir has also been in touch with the other individual involved.”
To date Starmer, a former Director of Public Prosecutions, is not reported to have been charged with any offence in connection with the incident.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said that they were alerted by the London Ambulance Service “at around 12.20hrs on Sunday to a report of a road traffic collision between a cyclist and car in Grafton Road, NW5.
“The driver of the car had stopped at the scene and exchanged details with the cyclist but had left before officers arrived.
“The male cyclist received a minor injury to his arm and was taken to hospital by LAS as a precaution.
“Officers later attempted to contact the driver of the car and left a message advising him to report the matter to police.
“The driver of the car subsequently attended a North London police station. He was not arrested or interviewed under caution.
“An investigation into the collision is ongoing.”
A spokesperson for the London Ambulance Service added: “We were called at 12.08pm to reports of a road traffic collision involving a car and a cyclist.
“We sent an ambulance crew to the scene. A person was treated at the scene and taken to a hospital.”
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36 comments
He needs to report as soon as practicable and within 24 hours. We have no way of knowing the former and he complied with the latter. Not sure there's much to see here as the information is sparse.
WARNING TO YOU ALL.
And there is an area here to trap the unwary and I know someone who now has points on their licence who fell into it.
That is that reporting to the Police has to be recorded. Having Police attend the incident may not be enough as the police officer may forget to report it (sounds familiar - hint close pass of the day) and phoning in may not count as the person taking the call may not record the details. The result is that there is no record of you reporting and so the collision is now a hit and run. Maximum penalty 6months £5000 and 5 to 10 points. The only way to guarantee that you reported it is to trot along to your local friendly police station with your lawyer (or other witness) to make a statement, and have a copy of that statement should the old bill try it on.
It is an easy nick for them as my associate found out.
It is otherwise an easy nick.
I am sure that Sir Starmer is aware of this and so played it by the book.
PS. By the way I count Sir Keir is one of us. Keep it under your hat though. He comes from a cycling family.
So when you rang the cop shop it was just about a stray dog?
It was not me.
I also note that it was reported that hit and run convictions have risen in recent years. I may have put 2 and 2 together and made 5. Or maybe not.
Rubbish statement. Expecting a senior barrister and the boss of the all the public prosecution lawyers in the country to be up on minor traffic offence law is a bit like expecting the Head of the Army to be still be able to field strip a rifle.
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