In Britain these days . . . .

[Roger]

Caller thanks for posting - that must be the longest post ever on K-F    and worth the whole read IMO.

For me this is crucial - "Opening the case, Simon Spence KC, prosecuting, told the court the footpath was “shared cycle and pedestrian access”. However, police later confirmed they could not “categorically” state it was a shared cycleway. Department for Transport guidance says shared paths should be at least three metres wide. The path on Nursery Road where the incident took place is 2.4 metres wide.

A Cambridgeshire county council spokesman said there were no legal records to show it was a shared path. It remains an offence under section 72 of the Highway Act 1835 to cycle on the pavement . . "

The convicted Ms. Grey also had left based vision sense and the deceased Ms. Ward was deaf - it seems like 'an accident waiting to happen'. 

Mind you I'm not sure how being deaf creates the need to ride on the pavement ? Whilst as a cyclist it's good to know that something is approaching from behind (and if you are deaf, that awareness is restricted), but if you want to live, you have to cycle tucked in WELL TO THE LEFT on the road ANYWAY.

I'd restate the point that, as an elderly cyclist of that age, I might have intruded on the pavement myself in those conditions. BUT when approaching ANY pedestrian, I would have had fingers on brake levers and be moving so very slowly that I could stop almost instantly, in deference to any pedestrian.

I think Ms. Grey has been harshly and unfairly treated.

*******************

A separate point, but relevant. In Britain today, the culture of 'health and safety' and 'blame' is such, that it seems there is no longer anything that is simply an accident. Someone is always to blame.

Thanks again Caller

[Hector]

"I think Ms. Grey has been harshly and unfairly treated."
I agree 100%.  Your last point, Roger, reminds me of Lord Denning's assertion, when he was Master of the Rolls, that "in legal terms there is no such thing as an accident."
IMO the Judge in this case was wrong.

[caller]

What I struggle with is why no family members were contacted. It doesn't matter that the defendent didn't give any information about them. The Police were able to find out about her medical background, Doctors who clearly had access to her records gave their opinion, which were then ignored by the judge, as is his prerogative, if justified. So knowing she was vulnerable, knowing her background, why weren't the family contacted? I am sure that had their knowledge been taken into account, as surely the Doctors would have liaised with them, then the judge might have reached a different conclusion. And what of her carers, were they spoken with? Did they not have to still check on her to make sure she was okay?

It also appears the CPS and Judge have accepted the evidence that it was a shared pathway, when it clearly wasn't. I would be interested in knowing what was produced in support of such a claim, as it's simply not enough for the Police or whoever, to simply say so. Somebody has to produce the evidence that it is, in Court. So you would expect a statement from perhaps a Council official with supporting documentary evidence.

[Roger]

After a decade (?) of low interest rates and quantitative easing, with inflated stock markets and astronomic house prices and rents, comments from Andrew Bailey at the Bank of England seem increasingly odd to me.

After recently appealing to workers to moderate their pay claims, (MMmmm is he in a dreamworld there?), Bailey is now suggesting that Companies should NOT put their prices up, (in a dreamworld again) - in current circumstances, in many cases Companies are forced to put their prices up to survive at all. And now it's early retirement to blame apparently.

Being one of those responsible for the problems we now face, he now has all the answers apparently.

I'd like to see the Politicians treading on this very dangerous ground a little more.

In short, to improve the UK economy, The PM needs to repeatedly bang the drum for greater efficiency, productivity, working harder and develop the indigestible truths that the UK has been living above it's means for decades on borrowed money. Inevitably, in the course of correcting that, we have to accept that there will be a lower standard of living in some ways, until matters improve. And that's horrific to contemplate because decades of crimes of inequality mean that so many are on the breadline anyway. Bang that drum Rishi 

I found this well worth the watch https://youtu.be/EpMLAQbSYAw