Bike crash cop is slammed by family of tragic victim

8:00am Friday 25th July 2008

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THE grieving family of a woman who was killed when an off-duty policeman’s motorbike ploughed into her, have described the officer’s riding as ‘stupid and pointless’.

PC Damien Myerscough was cleared by a jury last Thursday of causing Mrs Lyndsay Oldham’s death by dangerous driving but was found guilty of a lesser charge of driving without due care and attention following last year’s horrific accident in Ainsworth village.

He was fined £2,000 and banned from driving for 12 months.

During the nine-day trial, the jury heard how Myerscough, who worked with Greater Manchester Police’s tactical aid unit, was riding his high-powered Yamaha R1 motorbike through Ainsworth village on Good Friday last year when he collided with a VW Golf car turning right from Church Street into Sumner Avenue.

The off-duty PC was thrown over the bonnet and his machine was catapulted into the air before landing on the back of Mrs Oldham.

She was thrown head first into a wall, suffering a fatal head injury.

Mrs Oldham from Edgeworth Avenue, Ainsworth, worked for nine years as an IT service desk engineer with Bury Council.

The bike also struck her 14-year-old daughter, Emma, who was throwing on to railings but escaped impalement. Mrs Oldham’s son David, aged 17, suffered a broken ankle.

After the court judgement, a statement from Mrs Oldham’s family said: “Damien Myerscough rode his motorbike in a way we regard as stupid and pointless. The collision that followed was clearly avoidable.

“Myerscough, in his own admission, was travelling in excess of the speed limit while overtaking cars in an area specifically marked to keep vehicles apart.

“Lyndsay was killed in front of her son, David, and daughter, Emily, both of whom were left injured in the roadside.

“The sentence will never compare with the lives that have been ruined by this totally avoidable tragedy.”

Bolton Crown Court had been told Myerscough was riding along Church Street in Ainsworth at 33mph in a 30mph zone when he attempted to pass a line of cars, partially encroaching into a marked area which prohibits overtaking. As he reached the junction of Sumner Avenue, Aaron Willcock’s VW Golf turned right into his path.

Mr Willcock was attempting to return home to pick up a set of keys he had forgotten.

Myerscough, aged 42, of Camden Close, Ainsworth, who was off-duty at the time, was later charged with causing Mrs Oldham’s death.

The jury took seven and half hours to find him not guilty of the offence but found him guilty of driving without due care. As well as the fine and driving ban, Myerscough was also ordered to pay £1,000 court costs.

Judge Elliot Knopf slammed Myerscough by saying the off-duty officer felt the speed limit and the traffic calming measures ‘did not apply’ to him.

The judge said: “You chose that day to exceed the speed limit, not greatly, but you might expect that as an officer of the law, you would observe the speed limit which was 30mph. It was not 33, not 35, or 40 or 45. You considered the speed restrictions did not apply to you.

“You chose that day to, in your own words, make progress, to pass a number of cars in front of you and it would appear that you considered the red chevroned restriction on the road didn’t apply to you.”

Judge Knopf continued: “A number of strands came together that afternoon which resulted in the tragic death of a wife and mother who was walking with her children on that fine, sunny bank holiday Good Friday.

“Had she not been standing in that particular spot (on the pavement), had Mr Willcock not forgotten his keys, had he not decided to turn into Sumner Avenue, then matters may have been different.

“It also has to be said that had you ridden your motorbike with due and proper care, you may not have ridden into the side of the car, you and your bike may not have been catapulted into the air, then the consequences of that would have been avoided.”

Judge Knopf told Myerscough: “No sentence I can pass will put the clock back.

“Nothing I can say or do can in any way be seen by the Oldham family as an adequate response to their tragic loss.”

Myerscough suffered a shattered left leg in the crash and is not expected to be able to return to work due to his injury.

He appeared throughout the trial in his wheelchair and is also expected to face an internal disciplinary hearing.