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An 81-year-old woman named Helen Holland tragically lost her life after being struck by a police motorcycle outrider while crossing the West Cromwell Road in May 2023. The incident occurred as Christopher Harrison, 67, was part of the royal escort team for the Duchess of Edinburgh. Despite Mr. Harrison’s denial of causing death by dangerous driving, the prosecution argued that he should have seen Mrs. Holland and anticipated pedestrians, rather than driving straight into her.
The court heard that Mr. Harrison was driving carelessly at the time of the collision, despite being part of a team of four motorbike outriders responsible for escorting the Duchess and her convoy away from an event at the Foreign Office. As the convoy crossed traffic lights that had turned from green to red for traffic, Ms. Holland was walking across the road within her rights, with Mr. Harrison’s bike hitting her when she was 3m into the crossing.
According to the prosecution, Mrs. Holland started crossing the road as the light changed in her favor while it was red for Mr. Harrison, who should have driven with caution in that scenario. The jury was shown footage taken by officers wearing video cameras, suggesting that Mr. Harrison was driving at speeds exceeding the limit on the road. Despite his role permitting him to exceed speed limits, he still had a duty to drive carefully, which the prosecution argued he failed to do in this instance.
The job of outriders is to pave the way for convoys by identifying and managing potential hazards to ensure safe passage. They work in a leapfrog pattern, taking turns overtaking each other and communicating any upcoming dangers to the convoy. Outriders typically carry tools like whistles and blue lights to alert the public. In situations where the convoy faces a red light at a pedestrian crossing, it is their responsibility to control the crossing, either by positioning a motorbike across it or communicating with pedestrians to wait until the convoy has passed
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