The driver of a car that hit a cyclist who later died has appeared at the Old Bailey in a private case brought by the Cyclists’ Defence Fund.



Gail Purcell, 59, from St Albans, is charged with causing death by careless driving, after a collision with cyclist Michael Mason, 70, in central London. She denies the charge.



Swearing in the jury, the judge said: “Somewhat unusually the prosecution in this case is not being brought by the Crown Prosecution Service but is being brought by something called the Cyclists’ Defence Fund, which is a subsidiary of Cycling UK. Therefore, they being party to the prosecution clearly, just as the CPS may not serve in other trials, so in this trial we do not want members or contributors to either of those bodies to serve.”

Opening the prosecution, Simon Spence QC told jurors the fact that a “private organisation” and not the CPS was bringing the case against Purcell “does not in any way affect your approach to the case”.

Outlining the prosecution, Spence said Purcell was driving north along Regent Street from her work at a hair salon at about 6.20pm on 25 February 2014.

He said witnesses would say Mason was offside in the middle of the road ahead of Purcell, who was driving a black Nissan Juke.



“For whatever reasons the defendant simply did not see the cyclist in the carriageway ahead of her, in circumstances where the prosecution say she should have done,” he said.



The jury was told that the car hit the cyclist, and witnesses saw him flying into the air before landing head first in the road. He was taken to St Mary’s hospital. He died 19 days later without regaining consciousness, having sustained serious head injuries consistent with vehicular collision, said Spence.



Purcell pulled her vehicle over to the left and stopped level with where Mason had landed, the court heard.



Spence said one witness would say Purcell told her at the scene: “I’m the driver. It was me. Is he OK? I just didn’t see him.” Another described seeing her car “go up and down twice like it was going over bumps”.

Purcell was described as “shaking and upset” by a police officer who attended the scene, and told him: “I honestly didn’t see him. But I did hear a noise”, said Spence.

Later, in a police interview, Purcell said Mason “must have come from nowhere”. She continued: “I realised I had hit something or something had hit me. There was an impact. I went to pull over on the left-hand side of the road and put my hazard lights on, and I then ran back to the scene. I spoke to a man with glasses and said to him: ‘I didn’t see him. I was looking at the traffic straight ahead,’” the jury heard.

Spence said she told police it was only when she ran back to the scene that she realised what had happened.

Spence said Purcell estimated her speed at 20 to 25mph, but speed was not a factor in the case: “It’s her failure to see a cyclist she should have seen.”

Experts would say she could have seen him through her windscreen, he said.



Experts found no signs of braking or skid marks.



“This case is about a complete failure to notice a potential hazard in the form of a cyclist even when it is in front of the driver and has been hit,” said Spence.

The case continues.

• This article was amended on 5 April to correct the offence that Purcell is charged with.