Chigwell lorry driver who killed cyclist is spared jail

A skip lorry driver who crushed a 32-year-old cyclist to death as he chatted to his girlfriend on his hands free phone was spared jail today.

John Green, 54, of Hazelwood Park Close, Chigwell, ran over Spanish waiter Victor Rodriguez in his 32 ton truck at the notorious Ludgate Circus junction in central London.

He failed to check his mirrors to see if anyone was in the cycle lane before making the late decision to turn left.

The court heard how city workers screamed in horror as Mr Rodriguez was first knocked and then run over by the lorry at around 10am on April 3 last year.

Green shut his eyes and sighed heavily as he was convicted by the jury at the Old Bailey.

Mr Rodriguez’s mother and aunt looked on from the public gallery as Green was given a 12 month driving ban and ordered 150 hours unpaid work.

Judge Charles Wide, QC, said to the family: “The sadness and tragedy of what happened has hung over this trial, and everyone involved with it throughout has been truly conscious of the loss that his family have suffered, and indeed all those who knew him.

“It has been right in the forefront of everybody’s minds, although during the case we have had to focus in quite a technical legal way on the issue of Mr Green’s driving.

“There’s no way of making reparation or compensation through the sentence for your loss, and it’s very important to understand that a sentence passed in a case like this does not in any way seek to equate or make equivalence to the value of the life.”

Green was found guilty of causing death by careless driving.

Mr Rodriguez was the third of 12 cyclists to die on London’s roads last year.