Royal outrider cleared over pedestrian's death

A police motorcyclist who crashed into a pensioner while escorting the Duchess of Edinburgh through London has been found not guilty of causing death by careless driving.

Helen Holland, 81, died two weeks after she was hit in the crash on West Cromwell Road, west London, on 10 May 2023.

The Old Bailey was told PC Christopher Harrison, 68, had been riding at between 44mph (70km/h) and 58mph within a 30mph speed limit, on the approach to a red light where Mrs Holland was crossing.

PC Harrison told the Old Bailey he "did not see her in the footway at all on the approach".

The outrider team is allowed to exceed the speed limit, go through red lights and drive on the wrong side of the road, but such driving must be done safely, the court heard.

After the verdict was returned, a person shouted from the public gallery: "You ruined our family with no consequences."

Mr Justice Martin Chamberlain then told PC Harrison he was free to leave.

On the day of the incident, PC Harrison was among a team of convoy motorbike outriders escorting the Duchess of Edinburgh as she left the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office in King Charles Street, just after 15:00BST, jurors were told.

The car that the duchess was in and a police back-up vehicle were part of the convoy.

The defendant, who had 21 years of experience in the specialist escort group, said he "couldn't put it into numbers" how many times he had undertaken the journey and that he was "very familiar" with the route.

Mrs Holland was 2.9m on to the crossing when PC Harrison's motorbike hit her, the court heard.

She suffered a skull fracture, bruising to her arms, legs and body, as well as fractures to her lower legs.

A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as complications from a severe head injury.

PC Harrison, who became emotional while giving evidence during the trial, told jurors that the collision was a "tragic accident" which occurred in circumstances he had "no control over".

Under cross-examination, he accepted he forgot to switch on his body-worn camera and did not use his whistle as he approached the pedestrian crossing but insisted he had not been complacent that day.

"She was just there in front of me," he told jurors.

"She just appeared, between the kerb line and the point of collision.

"At no point did I see her on the island, I'm sorry."