£850 fine for red light running cyclist who put man in coma for six days

A cyclist who put a man into a six-day coma after going through a red light on a pedestrian crossing has been fined £850 at Hammersmith magistrates’ court, reports the London Evening Standard. Reeve Allen pleaded guilty to cycling without due care and attention and causing serious injury.

Anthony Da Costa was knocked unconscious during rush hour on June 30, 2015, when Allen collided with him outside his work near London Wall.

A doctor who was buying a coffee nearby gave Da Costa CPR, but he then spent six days in a coma having suffered a bruised brain and a fractured skull and facial bones.

“In August the neurosurgeon warned that certain aspects of myself may never be the same and that if I had half the level of energy by December it would be equivalent to an Olympic achievement — that is why I believe my recovery was miraculous. At this stage the only obvious consequence is that I have lost my sense of smell completely and that also affects taste.”

Da Costa said it had been a slow road to recovery but added that he was ‘just happy to be alive’.

“I eventually, slowly started getting better, but was having serious headaches, like I was biting into ice-cream, but much more intense, like my head was going to explode,” he said.

He said that even just having a bath or a shower was ‘a chore. “It felt like I was a 90-year-old man. But I went from nothing to being able to walk again — I’m even going to the gym now.”

As well as the fine, Allen was ordered to pay costs of £150 and a victim surcharge of £85.