Grandmother who died after being hit by cyclist treated ‘like a dog’ by police, says husband

Peter Walker and wife, Diana, who died after a cyclist collided with her in 2016 – JAY WILLIAMS

A grandmother who died after being hit by a cyclist was treated “like a stray dog” by police, her widower has said as he backs calls for tougher laws.

Diana Walker, 76, was crossing a high street in Pewsey, Wiltshire, when a cyclist collided with her, causing severe injuries. She died the next day.

Mrs Walker’s husband, Peter, 86, has now revealed to The Telegraph a series of letters he wrote to Wiltshire Police complaining that officers did not properly investigate the collision because no car was involved so it was “written off as an accident”. The cyclist was not charged.

Mr Walker claims the high street was not considered as a crime scene because the incident only involved a bike and pedestrian, so “no statements, no photographs, no measurements” were taken and the cyclist was interviewed more than three months after the collision.

Peter Walker wrote a series of letters to Wiltshire Police about the incident – JAY WILLIAMS

“The police were abominable,” Mr Walker told The Telegraph.

“They treated the collision immediately as just an accident.

“For seven years, I have been campaigning to try to get serious collisions involving a bicycle and pedestrian treated the same as if a car was involved.”

Dr Claire Balysz, assistant coroner for Wiltshire and Swindon, concluded Mrs Walker died in 2016 as a result of “a collision with a pedal cycle”.

But she wrote to Mike Veale, Wiltshire’s then chief constable, saying: “Both the family and myself remain very concerned that the serious collision investigation team do not attend collisions involving cyclists and pedestrians.”

Mr Walker then wrote to the force saying he was “appalled” because he felt “police at the time did very little”, adding: “As long as I live, I will always feel that the police have treated Diana and this accident as if she had only been a stray dog.”

He added: “By [the cyclist] hitting my wife and not an oncoming van, it apparently became a non-serious collision investigation team issue

“Despite being a very serious accident, it seems to have been treated just as a minor accident.

“Even after the accident, most statements from witnesses took nearly two weeks to be taken and the statement from the cyclist [was] taken 98 days afterwards.”

Diana died after being struck while crossing the high street in Pewsey, Wiltshire – JAY WILLIAMS

In a statement, the cyclist, who was wearing cycling shorts, shoes and a “bright green cycling top” and monitoring his speed on GPS apps, told police he was not speeding, did not have time to take “any significant avoiding action” but shouted “look out” when Mrs Walker stepped out.

Sgt Rich Hatch, of Wiltshire Police, said: “Under legislation, this incident did not involve a mechanically propelled vehicle and therefore was classed as a sudden death.”

He officers were required “to treat the case as an unlawful killing until proven otherwise” so “extensive inquiries were carried out”, including CCTV analysis, photographs of the bike and obtaining witness statements.

“As a result, it was concluded that this was not an unlawful killing and the case was referred to the coroner.

“We treat incidents of this nature extremely seriously and understand the significant impact the death of Mrs Walker had and continues to have on her family and friends.”

Mr Walker, a retired farming and livestock agent from Pewsey, is now urging MPs to support a series of amendments lodged by Sir Iain Duncan Smith to try to introduce new laws that would mean those riding bicycles, e-bikes and electric scooters face tougher penalties if they injure or kill.

Sir Iain is hoping to close a loophole that means cyclists who cause fatal injuries are often only charged under an 1861 law intended for horse-drawn carriages that has just a two-year maximum prison sentence.

Peter and Diana with their sons, Murray and Robbie – JAY WILLIAMS

His amendments were lodged after The Telegraph revealed how a speeding cyclist involved in a collision with Hilda Griffiths in Regent’s Park could not be prosecuted because speed limits do not apply to bikes.

Mr Walker has amassed seven years’ of correspondence with numerous Conservative transport ministers who have repeatedly told him that a consultation on updating laws would “soon be published”.

He said: “What have the Conservatives been doing? This still hasn’t been published.

“This issue has been in consultation for seven years or more. They are bloody useless. My fear is that the country is being run by Left-wing civil servants in cahoots with the cycling lobby.”

A government spokesman said: “Every death on our roads is a tragedy and we’ve been clear that dangerous cycling puts lives at risk and is completely unacceptable.

“While we are currently in the process of analysing the responses to the consultation and will publish it in due course, it is vital that we get this right and take into account the views of all road users.”

Play The Telegraph’s brilliant range of Puzzles – and feel brighter every day. Train your brain and boost your mood with PlusWord, the Mini Crossword, the fearsome Killer Sudoku and even the classic Cryptic Crossword.