Screams of doctor crushed by lorry as she cycled to work
AN NHS paediatrician was killed after being knocked off her bike and dragged under the wheels of a lorry when the driver failed to indicate, a court heard.
Dr Marta Krawiec, 41, screamed after she was struck by the HGV driven by Kevin Allen, 69, and dragged along the road by the lorry’s front wheels.
The food allergist had been wearing a bright pink top and trousers with a helmet when she was struck in Holborn, central London, on August 4, 2021, the Old Bailey heard. Allen had been in the middle lane for traffic going straight ahead but turned left, only indicating after he began moving, jurors were told.
The driver, who told police he had been in the middle lane to manoeuvre the Mercedes HGV round the bend, has admitted causing death by careless driving but denies dangerous driving. Allen, of Forest Town, Nottinghamshire, said he had checked his mirrors before pulling away but had not seen the cyclist next to his cab.
He had been delivering steel to a building site in London on the bright and clear summer’s morning when the crash took place, Paul Casey, prosecuting, said.
Polish-born Dr Krawiec had been in an appropriate position to continue going straight ahead at the junction of Southampton Row and Theobalds Road, and there had been other cyclists ahead of her or in front of the HGV, he added. ‘Mr Allen’s failure to indicate in a timely fashion had catastrophic consequences,’ Mr Casey said.
‘His HGV struck the rear wheel of [the] bicycle causing her to fall forward. She was immediately trapped by the front nearside wheel and was dragged along about ten metres. She screamed and the audible warning of the HGV
‘Catastrophic consequences’
began to sound.’ Dr Krawiec, who worked at a clinic in Clapham, south-west London, volunteered as a participant in the Oxford vaccine trials and as a clinician in Covid wards during the pandemic, died at the scene.
Allen, who had slept at services after driving from Cardiff the previous day was found not to be under the influence of drink or drugs.
The trial continues.