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news
Gandalf Corner (Google Maps)Video: Sir Ian McKellen’s agent cleared of assaulting CyclingMikey
A jury has acquitted a theatrical agent whose clients include Lord of the Rings star Sir Ian McKellen of assault following an incident last year in which he drove at Mike van Erp – known on social media as CyclingMikey – and carried him on the bonnet of his Range Rover for around 20 metres.
The incident happened at a junction on the Outer Circle in London’s Regent’s Park that has earned the nickname ‘Gandalf Corner’ due to road safety campaigner van Erp stepping into the carriageway to stop motorists who ignore a bollard with a keep left arrow on it and drive on the wrong side of the road to try and get ahead of queueing traffic.
On the morning of 9 September last year, van Erp was positioned at that location with a helmet camera and a selfie-stick when Paul Lyon-Maris, aged 60, attempted to drive round the bollard in his Range Rover on the wrong side of the road.
Video shown in court, and now uploaded to CyclingMikey’s YouTube channel, shows Lyon-Maris claiming that he was running late for a doctor’s appointment, although he admitted during the trial that it was in fact an appointment with a physiotherapist.
James Dean, prosecuting, had told the court that the theatrical agent had “used his car as a weapon” during the incident, driving it at van Erp who ended up on the bonnet.
"The car continued, still on the wrong side of the road, towards the junction and turned right on the Outer Circle where it stopped around 20 yards (18 metres) to the left with Mr van Erp on the bonnet,” the prosecutor explained.
Lyon-Maris had admitted at an earlier magistrates’ court hearing to driving the wrong side of the keep left sign, but insisted that van Erp “threw himself on my bonnet.”
The jury took just under four hours to find the driver not guilty of dangerous driving and common assault, returning its verdict at lunchtime today.
The judge in the case, Recorder Jonathan Bellamy, said after the verdict had been returned: “I wish Mr Lyon-Maris luck in his profession and elsewhere.”
During this week’s trial, he told the court that while he acknowledged that it was “risky” to step out in front of motor vehicles, “I look at it in the same way as taking the keys off a drink driver – I want to stop the immediate harm.”
On his profile on Twitter, van Erp – who was a teenager when his father was killed by a drunk driver – says that he has “reported 1,000 drivers for 800 successful prosecutions in the last four years or so.”
He has more than 90,000 followers on YouTube, where his videos have amassed in excess of 47 million views in aggregate.
High-profile celebrities he has caught breaking the law on camera include the former world champion boxer Chris Eubank, and film director, Guy Ritchie.
One unsuccessful prosecution came earlier this year, however, when the Crown Prosecution Service decided at the last moment to drop a charge against former Chelsea and England footballer Frank Lampard, who now manages Everton, relating to using a handheld mobile phone while driving.
Writing on Twitter today after he had been unofficially told of the verdicts, van Erp said “I feel sick,” adding that “the video will be up soon enough, then you're welcome to draw your own conclusions.”
The video will be up soon enough, then you're welcome to draw your own conclusions.
— CyclingMikey (@MikeyCycling) October 13, 2022
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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81 comments
obvioulsy it's not possible to know what the jury discussed but I do wonder if they saw Cycling Mikey as a provacateur or to use a tabloid term 'vigilante'. That's not an excuse for the driving but it may be a reason the driver got off. The point is that the Outer Ring should not be open to through traffic.
12 jurers? Only possibly only one - if that - a regular cyclist? I can see why they let off the psycho in a Range Rover.
Unless the judge accepts a majority verdict, it only takes one Mail reading petrol-head on a jury to get you off pretty much any driving charge or anything relating to assaulting, beating or murdering a cyclist.
As long as you've got the money to get a lawyer who knows how to press the right buttons, and get the case seen in the right court then you've got a pretty good chance that one of your 12 randoms will do the honours for you and then brag about it in the pub for the rest of their life.
If not just the one, two or three to have "reasonable" doubt.
Please dont talk bollocks about legal processes - it undermines them. We get enough of that from our politicians.
It is not correct to say one jurist "gets them off". The choices are Unanimous verdict (for or against) majority verdict for or against (as requested by Judge) or hung jury.
There is no scenario where one jurist "gets them off" unless you count 1 hyper-persuasive individual in the jury room - which by design of the justice system we will never know about.
This shows how important it is to be rich, have influential friends & be in the right lodge, oh & being in a vehicle when you commit crime helps too.
van Erp “threw himself on my bonnet.”
AND
"He head butted my fist"
It has put me off McKellen, keeping a pillock like that as his agent
He has a few other A-listers too.
Being a self entitled prick who's full of their own importance helps when negotiating multi-million dollar acting gigs for clients. Who knew 🤷♂️
I don't understand why the relevant authorities don't put CM out of a job - by doing theirs. Obviously a camera would just be seen as a cost of motoring by some of these offenders, but some one-way claws might cost them where it hurts - time, inconvenience and aggravation.
The Crown Estates Paving Commission, which controls the roads in Regent's Park, refuse to install a camera because it wouldn't be in keeping with the 18th/19th century character of the area. When asked (as I have) whether allowing high levels of motorised traffic on the roads in a park is in keeping with said character, they're oddly silent.
Is that true? That is so ridiculous!
A sympathetic design could enhance the area.
I did suggest to them that perhaps they could have a gentleman in a frock coat, knee britches and tricorn hat painting exquisite enamel miniatures of malefactors to be used in evidence, but for some unfathomable reason I think they decided I was taking the piss.
Because the Met are too busy whinging about lack of resources despite having a record number of warranted officers.
Cycling Micky wasn't doing much cycling in that clip. The guy is a professional bellend and looks for drama. He wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't for YouTube. I also imagine he picks and chooses who he messes with.
How can he see who is in the car?
Correct, he would not be doing this without YouTube.
He would not be doing it if there was proper enforcement.
I would not need to submit stuff to Essex police if there was proper enforcement.
Without YouTube, drivers would not be aware that they can be caught on video and potentially prosecuted.
He wouldn't be posting videos if there weren't an internet. However I suspect he'd be doing some kind of reporting crap and dangerous driving however due to his personal history / stated motivation.
If he's choosy about who he messes with then his criteria seem very odd. Chris Eubank? This dude?
Always easy to spot shit drivers by who CM annoys.
I am not surprised to be honest. I understand CM's motivation but I am not convinced his methods do cyclists any favours. Film those breaking the law by going the wrong side of the keep left sign and submit to the police. Shout warnings to any pedestrian or cyclists in their path. Stick a big billboard on the approach saying "800 people successfully prosecuted for going the wrong side....". Same result, probably more effective as everyone sees the billboard, no reliance on YouTube and no need for endangering oneself.
I would happily help crowdfund a billboard for that purpose.
He'd need planning permission for that.
Campaign for more enforcement rather than leaving the public to assist the police.
You are right about the planning unfortunately. Just looked at the location (I probably should have done that before suggesting a billboard ) and not a chance of getting permission. Unfortunately also diddley squat chance of the police doing their job effectively and having enough sustained enforcement to get the word out that cutting that corner isn't worth the risk so I won't be wasting my energy on that front. I still don't condone CM'S methods though. Not sure what the answer is, but I am convinced it isn't the way CM currently operates.
PP has to be implemented by the landowner, anyway.
And I think that is under Royal Park jurisdiction, who have already refused to install a camera there for aesthetic reasons.
Wow, this guy is actually using his 1.5t car as an assault weapon, and gets away with it.
I wonder daily more in what kind of a world we're actually living...
Well over 2 tonnes. The latest Range Rover design has to use light weight materials, not for handling, but to avoid being classed as a goods vehicle at over 3 tonnes.
2.3 T vehicle.
In a Mikey video from 3 years ago, the police officer volunteers that that corner is dangerous due to the illegal driving.
Rich man gets off charge as they have done for a few hundred years.
I wonder whether CM would have got off with it if he'd ridden his bike into Paul Lyon-Maris, while riding on the wrong side of the road, and was videod doing it.
I'm with Mikey. A pedestrian would have walked out looking the other way as the arrows and road text tell them to, this is reckless driving. Maybe one day we will also see 'crimes against humanity' charges for reckless greenhouse gas emission.
Yet another case where the motorist gets away with it. This just looks like we cyclists can just get knocked off, run over, side swiped etc etc and the drivers get off scott free. When will the justice system atcually start issuing sentences which are seen as deterrents? and then this sort of shit atcually stops happening
I wonder what the attitude of the jury would have been if it wasn't someone identified as a cyclist - say a concerned pedestrian or a driver who had been in a serious collision there?
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