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Cyclists' widows to sue driver who walked out of court free after running both over and killing them instantly

The two cyclists were struck from behind by the driver, who is being sued for £200,000 in damages after his two-year prison sentence was suspended by the judge for not driving at "excessive speed"...

The wives of two cyclists who lost their lives in 2020 are suing the driver who struck them from behind and ran them over for more than £200,000 in damages, after his two-year prison sentence was suspended by the judge despite pleading guilty in court.

Andy Coles, 56, and Damien Natale, 52, were enjoying a sunny summer evening ride on their bikes on the A40 near High Wycombe when they were both ran over by Clifford Rennie, a company director by profession, driving his VW Golf.

In the aftermath of the crash, Coles was thrown over a crash barrier and down a hill, and his mangled bicycle was wedged into a tree. Natale's body was found more than 50 metres away from the scene of collision, in the opposite carriageway.

In October 2021, Rennie, of Wallingford, Oxfordshire, pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by careless driving at High Wycombe Magistrates' Court. However, a month later, his two-year sentence was suspended by the judge, leaving him only banned from driving for five years, needing to pass an extended retest and pay £475 in prosecution costs.

> Driver in court on charges of killing two cyclists in Buckinghamshire

Now, widow Tracey Natale and Mr Coles' partner Helen Atherton are suing Mr Rennie in the High Court following the tragedy, Daily Mail reports.

Mrs Natale said she felt like she was serving a life sentence and Ms Atherton told the court that she had lost her world, and that the fatal date was seared in her memory as "beyond tragedy, beyond awful, beyond anything I can imagine".

Coles and Natale had run event company Allez Sportives, organising sports challenges and holidays around the world, and raised thousands of pounds for charities.

Natale's son, Brady, told the court in 2021: "In that moment you didn't look, you took our family's small bit of calm. You took our family's stability, you took a loving husband, you took a dedicated father, you took a caring son, you took an excited grandfather."

The family members expressed their frustration that Rennie had not been charged with manslaughter and the delays in the case reaching court.

> ​Cycling and the law: Are UK sentencing guidelines tough enough for motoring offences? Explaining Clifford Rennie’s sentence

Rennie initially replied 'no comment' in a police interview, but later gave a prepared statement expressing his heartfelt sympathy to the cyclists' families.

Rennie, who claimed he was a cyclist himself, could not explain why he had not seen the two men. In a letter to the Judge, the defendant repeated his apologies and 'sorrow' for what had happened.

Another motorist saw the appalling scene unfold and told Oxford Crown Court he saw Rennie holding his head in his hands, saying: "There’s two of them."

At the packed hearing in November, Judge Michael Gledhill QC gave his reasons for suspending Rennie's sentence as that he was not driving at an excessive speed, wasn't under the influence of alcohol or drugs and hadn't been distracted by anything "as far as he knows".

Judge Gledhill said: "He simply hadn’t seen them. It may have well been that along that road where there are trees on either side of the road and in other places no trees leaving shade and bright sunlight that in those shadows and bright light he simply missed them.

"He should have seen them. Other people had overtaken the two men without any problem at all. They were able to see them and they were able to overtake them safely.

"Mr Coles and Mr Natale were riding perfectly properly. They were not riding abreast of each other, blocking one of the two carriageways of that road. One was slightly ahead of the other, leaving plenty of room to pass and there was no reason at all that Mr Rennie should not have seen them and this accident should not have taken place."

> Suspended sentence “a real farce”, says family of cyclist killed by motorist – as Cycling UK blasts UK’s “broken road traffic laws”

He added: "There was no such offence as causing death by careless driving and that would have been even worse from your point of view, when the maximum sentence would have been counted in terms of pounds rather than in terms of imprisonment.

"But Parliament recognised that there are rare cases when people die as a result of drivers’ careless driving [and] these new offences were brought into being.

"Both parties in this case agree the offence falls not the highest bracket of offending for causing death by careless driving, namely that the defendant’s driving fell not far short of dangerous driving. But it wasn’t dangerous driving, so it is not far short of dangerous driving.

"Just as Mr Coles and Mr Natale went out for a perfectly normal evening ride this defendant left work that night simply to drive home and spend that evening at home of a pleasant summer’s night. He did not go out to kill anybody. His driving was not dangerous, his inattention that lead to the deaths of these two men was to be counted in seconds. The consequences to him are nothing – nothing – like the consequences to these poor men, their families and friends. But they are serious consequences."

He concluded: "[I am] dealing with a man whose life has not been destroyed as the lives of Mr Coles and Mr Natale, but it has been completely altered negatively probably for the rest of his life.

"Do I suspend the sentence? Although it will disappoint many, I think I have been able to explain why I am going to suspend the sentence. He will have this hanging over his head for the rest of his life."

However, a police crash investigator had previously told the court that Rennie should have been able to see the cyclists.

> Lorry driver who caused cyclist’s death following “perilous overtaking manoeuvre” spared jail

Senior investigating officer Sergeant Darren Brown, of Thames Valley Police's Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: "This was an absolute tragedy that needn't have happened.

"Due to the manner of Mr Rennie's driving on that early summer's afternoon last year, two men, who were simply out for a cycle ride, did not return home to their loved ones.

"This tragic case underlines the fact that motorists need to be fully aware of their surroundings and be aware of other, more vulnerable road users, especially when driving within national speed limits."

Adwitiya joined road.cc in 2023 as a news writer after graduating with a masters in journalism from Cardiff University. His dissertation focused on active travel, which soon threw him into the deep end of covering everything related to the two-wheeled tool, and now cycling is as big a part of his life as guitars and football. He has previously covered local and national politics for Voice Wales, and also likes to writes about science, tech and the environment, if he can find the time. Living right next to the Taff trail in the Welsh capital, you can find him trying to tackle the brutal climbs in the valleys.

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50 comments

Avatar
Owd Big 'Ead | 9 months ago
1 like

I'd be suing the judge too.

In summary of events he's decided he's psychic while giving Rennie a chance of a fresh start.

Do they both go to the same freemasons lodge?

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kil0ran | 9 months ago
5 likes

Every time this case comes up I'm utterly puzzled as to how the judge/jury reached their decision. The facts as far as I can determine are:

  • The two cyclists were heading north-westbound on the A40 from Piddington towards their homes in Haddenham. 
  • The driver hit them from behind
  • There's mention of the brow of the hill in a witness statement
  • The uphill section of the A40 from Piddington is about a mile long and pretty much straight
  • It was 6.40pm in the evening in June so low sun is unlikely to be a factor (and not mentioned in mitigation, as it usually would be)
  • If the cyclists were heading home as reported it's likely that they were due to head off the A40 at Beacon's Bottom which is beyond the top of the hill. That means that they weren't stationary and turning right.
  • The driver is from Wallingford and was also heading home. That means he was likely using the A40 to cross the M40 at Stokenchurch and go via Christmas Common.
  • That hill is probably around 6% for half a mile or so at the bottom. The cyclists were unlikely to be sprinting up it.
  • One of the cyclists was "thrown over the barrier and down a bank. There's a low non-armco barrier on the steep section of the climb which is preceded by a straight stretch of road. No barrier at the top of the hill so it sounds like he hit them on the lower, steeper slopes.
  • It's a 60mph limit.

If all the above is true I just can't work out how he didn't see them for hundreds of yards

The route he was taking home is one of those you'd do in a powerful car of a nice summer's evening - I know this because I used to do a loop from Reading to High Wycombe to Wallingford and back which used that stretch of road when my interests were performance cars rather than bikes. It's not a direct route to Wallingford but used as a bit of a rat run to avoid the M40, or if you fancy a bit of an A-road blat. Whilst he may have had a clean driving record I'd imagine that's more to do with not being caught. You don't buy a Golf R to sit in traffic and obey the speed limit (300bhp, 0-60 in around 5 seconds is seriously quick by anyone's standards).

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kil0ran | 9 months ago
3 likes

I've driven that road regularly. It's a long straight with broken line hatchings in the centre. Wide enough to try to overtake into oncoming traffic, in fact that was pretty common when I was driving in the area twenty years ago. Because it's a hill and long and straight and wide there's a tendency for drivers to speed. I'm sure Mr Rennie wasn't doing this in his high performance (250bhp, 0-60 in 5s) ego fluffer/virility enhancement device. Even if he was and even if there was patchy light and shade that day how the hell does someone fail to see a pair of cyclists on a straight road?

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Michael B | 9 months ago
3 likes

All speed limits are advisory to the road user dependent on conditions, not a target to attained at any cost or used as an excuse for lack of observation or concentration.

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alansmurphy | 9 months ago
0 likes

"One was slightly ahead of the other, leaving plenty of room to pass and there was no reason at all that Mr Rennie should not have seen them and this accident should not have taken place."

 

You have to question this as well - How far, one bike length, 10. It would make the ability to hit both of them more of an issue (speed). 

 

And the 'leaving plenty of room to pass' again makes it sound like the cyclists are an inconvenience, an obstacle that must be passed quilckly and without consideration!

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brooksby replied to alansmurphy | 9 months ago
1 like

alansmurphy wrote:

And the 'leaving plenty of room to pass' again makes it sound like the cyclists are an inconvenience, an obstacle that must be passed quilckly and without consideration!

Isn't that how many motorists consider cyclists?

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alansmurphy replied to brooksby | 9 months ago
0 likes

Absolutely, but you'd hope that people from the judicial system didn't feed the beast!

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wycombewheeler | 9 months ago
6 likes

Honestly I despair. Multiple other drivers managed to pass these cyclists with no issues. The road is wide with good sight lines. I have never felt it was a dangerous road to cycle along.

No one introduced any evidence that the cyclists were hard to see, so the judge speculated on his own, accepting the drivers "I didn't see them, but I wasn't distracted honestly" AS others have said, if the dappled shade was that bad, then the driver should slow down.

The judge also implies that had they been cycling two abreast that would not have been proper cycling and they would have been at fault. Ironically that might have kep them alive.

Inattention measured in seconds? at least 10 seconds, potentially 30 or even 60. There is no part of the A40 between Wycombe and Stokenchurch with a visible distance as low as 200m, which would be 8 seconds of not looking where he was going.

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bikes replied to wycombewheeler | 9 months ago
2 likes

And there were no tyre marks that indicated braking or swerving? As in, even after getting very close he didn't see them, and after hitting one rider he didn't change course? I guess there is no investigation, as it's accepted as 'an accident'.

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EraserBike | 9 months ago
9 likes

Disgusting comments from the judge. If two people are killed instantly in a crash, then the speed was excessive, the driving was dangerous. The driver being under the speed limit and not on drugs doesn't change that fact.

We need serious changes to the judiciary of this country. Judges consistently fail to hand down approrpriate sentances.

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ratherbeintobago replied to EraserBike | 9 months ago
3 likes

If Vision Zero is ever going to mean anything, it's going to need proper engagement from multiple agencies, including council Highways teams, but also the police, the judiciary and the Coroner's service.

I'm not clear any of that is happening.

 

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Muddy Ford | 9 months ago
0 likes

.

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bikes | 9 months ago
6 likes

"It may have well been that along that road where there are trees on either side of the road and in other places no trees leaving shade and bright sunlight that in those shadows and bright light he simply missed them."

I take it the defence didn't present a video or photographs of the road from a driver's perspective in similar conditions. And why would they, with a judge like this.

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qwerty360 | 9 months ago
16 likes

Perfect example to give to all the people complaining about 'rediculously low speed limits'...

 

The council has a legal obligation to make reasonable efforts to ensure roads are safe; The court has basically said it isn't unreasonable not to see people at the speed limit; So now the council has to figure out how it prevents reoccurance - they can't simply declare it exceptionally bad driving that is unavoidable because of the court decision...

 

Result - 20mph limit as the only way they can 'prevent it'...

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hawkinspeter replied to qwerty360 | 9 months ago
7 likes

qwerty360 wrote:

Perfect example to give to all the people complaining about 'rediculously low speed limits'...

 

The council has a legal obligation to make reasonable efforts to ensure roads are safe; The court has basically said it isn't unreasonable not to see people at the speed limit; So now the council has to figure out how it prevents reoccurance - they can't simply declare it exceptionally bad driving that is unavoidable because of the court decision...

 

Result - 20mph limit as the only way they can 'prevent it'...

There is another way.

Ban motorised vehicles from using that road if they are unable to be driven without endangering others. Maybe that's the only way that people will realise that some judges are not fit for purpose if multiple roads become unusable for cars/lorries due to stupid court decisions.

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mattw | 9 months ago
19 likes

Dear Lord, is the Judge on an hallucinogen?

If it's dappled sunlight, you slow down because visibility is reduced.

The speed limit is not the arbiter of a safe speed.

What a prat.

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ymm | 9 months ago
14 likes

Time and again we can reliably infer that the judiciary are the problem. The judicial system is institutionally pro-motoring and vulnerable road users dont recieve appropriate justice from their service. This is the area that must change as currently the judges involved are protecting motorists and not protecting more vulnerable road users. I would like see Bikeability Level 3 for all judges before them being involved in any case considering cycling. This would be good CPD, allows for better understanding and could lead to more streamlined wigs?

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Cugel replied to ymm | 9 months ago
18 likes

ymm wrote:

Time and again we can reliably infer that the judiciary are the problem. The judicial system is institutionally pro-motoring and vulnerable road users dont recieve appropriate justice from their service. ......

The judiciary and their leniency towards those causing traffic "accidents" is not the central issue but just a symptom of a much greater issue - the normalisation of inept, incompetant, inattentive and generally sub-standard driving - along with the normalisation of current car designs to include far too much power, speed, weight and other dangerous factors that are not needed for their supposed primary purpose of getting from A to B.

The fundamental cause of these situations of unaddressed murder and maiming is the car and the way that it's designed and marketed.  Cars are made to be used as they are used - dangerously - which pays little attention to the safety of humans near them, despite all the supposed safety aids (which may actually be encouraging risk compensation effects that make drivers even more careless with their speed and lack of attention).

One way to stop these car crimes would be to stop the access to such cars, meaning no issue of having to write endless laws about their use which are semi-ignored by an overworked and over-sympathetic legal system. If you can't buy a gun you can't shoot people, "accidently" or deliberately. Ditto the car and "accidents".

On-line and home working take away a huge portion of the "I need my car" argument. And modern societies can be organised without a zillion cars anyway.  I recall such a place from the time of my early youth in the 1950s, when cars were few and far between.

The things are an evil blight and always have been, with a thousand ill effects compensated little by their very few advantages.

And there are much safer alternatives for personal and mass transportation - including much slower, lighter and safer car designs that force drivers to pay attention.

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hawkinspeter replied to Cugel | 9 months ago
8 likes

Cugel wrote:

The judiciary and their leniency towards those causing traffic "accidents" is not the central issue but just a symptom of a much greater issue - the normalisation of inept, incompetant, inattentive and generally sub-standard driving - along with the normalisation of current car designs to include far too much power, speed, weight and other dangerous factors that are not needed for their supposed primary purpose of getting from A to B.

The fundamental cause of these situations of unaddressed murder and maiming is the car and the way that it's designed and marketed.  Cars are made to be used as they are used - dangerously - which pays little attention to the safety of humans near them, despite all the supposed safety aids (which may actually be encouraging risk compensation effects that make drivers even more careless with their speed and lack of attention).

One way to stop these car crimes would be to stop the access to such cars, meaning no issue of having to write endless laws about their use which are semi-ignored by an overworked and over-sympathetic legal system. If you can't buy a gun you can't shoot people, "accidently" or deliberately. Ditto the car and "accidents".

On-line and home working take away a huge portion of the "I need my car" argument. And modern societies can be organised without a zillion cars anyway.  I recall such a place from the time of my early youth in the 1950s, when cars were few and far between.

The things are an evil blight and always have been, with a thousand ill effects compensated little by their very few advantages.

And there are much safer alternatives for personal and mass transportation - including much slower, lighter and safer car designs that force drivers to pay attention.

I think it's a cultural issue as other countries don't tend to have the same level of entitlement around driving (and conversely the U.S. is arguably worse than the U.K.). I think the best answer is to step up traffic policing as there's a strong link between dangerous driving and other criminality, so it will assist with tackling other crimes too. They should fully employ all the traffic cameras they have access to (including public submissions) and declare a full on "War on the Motorist". Once drivers get used to the increased chance of getting caught, they'll pay attention to the rules.

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kingleo | 9 months ago
17 likes

 

It's not the first time this sort of thing has happened: A motorist never stopped at a pedestrian crossing, hit an elderly man, and killed him - the judge let her off because as he said "she was only doing 18 mph". It appears that killing cyclists and pedestrians with a car is considered to be a very minor offense by the judiciary.

 

 

 

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bikes | 9 months ago
6 likes

"Both parties in this case agree the offence falls not the highest bracket of offending for causing death by careless driving, namely that the defendant’s driving fell not far short of dangerous driving. But it wasn’t dangerous driving, so it is not far short of dangerous driving."

I couldn't make sense of this or the other part above with reference to "measured in pounds". Is it a typo or misquote?

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eburtthebike | 9 months ago
26 likes

But it wasn’t dangerous driving,

Two people dead, but it wasn't dangerous.  The law is an ass.  Still waiting for the comprehensive review of road law.

Judge Gledhill said: "He simply hadn’t seen them.

No "simply" about it: he wasn't paying attention and two people died, but it isn't dangerous.

It may have well been that along that road where there are trees on either side of the road and in other places no trees leaving shade and bright sunlight that in those shadows and bright light he simply missed them.

"It may well have been........"  Don't they know?  Judges are supposed to judge on the facts, not suppositions, and the police investigator said "Rennie should have been able to see the cyclists".  Was the judge paid by the defence or is he in the same lodge?

If these ladies would like to start a crowdfunder for their legal costs, count me in for a few quid.

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Muddy Ford replied to eburtthebike | 9 months ago
5 likes

I'm in for the crowdfunding too. A win of significant damages that is not covered by his insurance will do a lot for road safety, sending a loud message to these morons who routinely speed and have no regard for others on the road, especially those that are unlikely to kill them in a collision.

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wycombewheeler replied to Muddy Ford | 9 months ago
0 likes

Muddy Ford wrote:

I'm in for the crowdfunding too. A win of significant damages that is not covered by his insurance will do a lot for road safety, sending a loud message to these morons who routinely speed and have no regard for others on the road, especially those that are unlikely to kill them in a collision.

why would the damages not be covered by the insurance?

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eburtthebike | 9 months ago
11 likes

In the accident,

No, it was a collision.  Media guidelines?

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Safety | 9 months ago
22 likes

It would be interesting to know which masonic lodge the judge and company director belong to.

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Accessibility f... | 9 months ago
25 likes

If the driver does not "know" why he didn't see the two people cycling, then his licence to drive should be permanently revoked until he can explain this.

Perhaps he's telling the truth and was not distracted.  In which case, perhaps he has an undiagnosed medical condition.  In which case, it might happen again.

Why the fuck is he still allowed to drive?

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mctrials23 replied to Accessibility for all | 9 months ago
16 likes

This is what gets me. If you crash because you weren't paying attention you should have been and should be punished. If you have no idea what you did wrong when you kill two people then you are dangerous and shouldn't be on the roads. 

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Rendel Harris | 9 months ago
21 likes

Quote:

"Mr Coles and Mr Natale were riding perfectly properly. They were not riding abreast of each other, blocking one of the two carriageways of that road."

So the judge believes that had they been riding abreast of each other and "blocking one of the two carriageways of that road" they would not have been "riding perfectly properly"? Fuck's sake.

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ShutTheFrontDawes replied to Rendel Harris | 9 months ago
1 like
Rendel Harris wrote:

Quote:

"Mr Coles and Mr Natale were riding perfectly properly. They were not riding abreast of each other, blocking one of the two carriageways of that road."

So the judge believes that had they been riding abreast of each other and "blocking one of the two carriageways of that road" they would not have been "riding perfectly properly"? Fuck's sake.

Shocking isn't it. However, playing devil's advocate, it's rule 66 of the highway code that says "You can ride two abreast and it can be safer to do so". However, rule 66 starts with "You should [...]" and is therefore, as we all know having been told by you a few times now "purely advisory". So in reality, there isn't anything that says that cyclists can ride 2 abreast, and the judge is 100% correct to consider that riding 2 abreast is unacceptable because it's only allowed (encouraged even!) by a rule in the highway code which is "purely advisory".

It's great to know that all these rules are "purely advisory". It just makes me wonder why we bother having them at all.

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