Cyclists and e-bike riders have been hit with criminal convictions and penalties of more than £400 each for flouting London’s traffic laws.
City of London Police officers are deployed on bikes and the Met Police has a dedicated Cycle Safety team, with the aim of tackling the scourge of bikes whistling through pedestrian crossings and past red lights.
This week, it was revealed that a pedestrian died after a collision with an e-bike rider in west London.
Calls have been made for a crackdown on e-bike riders and speedy cyclists, amid a perceived safety threat to pedestrians on the capital’s streets.
Court records reveal cyclists are already being prosecuted for flouting the rules, with many facing criminal prosecution for running through red traffic lights.
Those caught are typically ordered to pay out more than £400 in costs, court fees, and fines, and also end up with a criminal conviction against their name.
In the last week alone, magistrates ordered cyclists who were convicted of flouting London’s traffic laws to pay out more than £4000 in penalties.
‘I swear the light was just changing’
Frankie Spence, 22, was stopped by police after running a red traffic light on a Lime bike on Bishopsgate at 9.47am on November 7 last year.
PC David Parker flagged her down after spotting the offence, while on police bike patrols for the City of London Police.
“A cyclist caught my attention as they failed to stop at the red traffic light and solid white line at Bishopsgate, at the junction with Brushfield Street”, he said.
The officer said Spence told him: “I swear the light was just changing, can I appeal this?”
Police say she was offered the chance to avoid a prosecution with a fixed penalty fine and a cycling course but she failed to comply.
Spence, from Lewisham, was convicted of riding a pedal cycle on a road and fail to comply with the indication given by a traffic sign, after she did not enter a plea.
A magistrate ordered that she pay a £220 fine, plus £110 costs and an £88 victim surcharge.
‘There was no reason for the rider not to stop’
Olumide Ojuade, 27, was caught breaking the law on a single speed bicycle when he went through a red light on Lower Thames Street
“Another cyclist was also being held by the same red automatic traffic signal (ATS)”, set out Met Police PC Simon Watters.
“The rider rode around the other held cyclist. The rider crossed the stop line on red and continued straight ahead across the junction towards me.
“There was no reason for the rider not to stop and wait with the other held cyclist for the next green ATS phase.”
PC Watters told the court he was on duty as part of the Met’s Cycle Safety Team when the incident happened, on August 22 last year.
Days after the incident, Ojuade, from Croydon, was offered the chance to settle the case out of court with a fixed penalty fine and by signing up to a Safe and Considerate Cycling Scheme.
It was not until January this year that the Met decided to commence a criminal prosecution, and there was a four month delay in the case then being heard by a court last week.
Ojuade was fined £220 and ordered to pay £110 in costs and an £88 victim surcharge.
E-bike rider ignored red light
Wojtynski Beniamin was riding a rented Forest e-Bike when he was spotted running a red traffic light on London Road in Elephant and Castle on August 5 last year.
Met Police PC John Moody, another member of the Cycle Safety Team, was at the junction at 9.55am when it happened.
“The rider rode past all the other held cyclists including myself and crossed the stop line on red”, he wrote in his statement.
“The rider rode through the junction and went straight on into Newington Causeway.
“There was no reason for the rider not to stop and wait with the other held cyclists for the next green ATS phase.
“I stopped the pedal cycle and explained what I had seen to the rider. The rider made no excuse.”
Beniamin, who lives in Wandsworth, did not enter a plea and received the same penalty – fine, costs, and a victim surcharge totalling £418.
Cyclist identified by fingerprint
Adlan Hajo, 28, who lives in Angel, was prosecuted for ignoring a red light as he cycled over a pelican crossing.
Police officers who witnessed the incident activated their blue lights to stop him, and then used a fingerprint scanner when he did not have identification on him.
He faced court over the October 22 incident, and was fined £220, plus £110 costs and a £88 victim surcharge.
‘He said he thought it was amber’
Assaf Fahad, 26, from Lambeth, was caught out on Westminster Bridge by a passing Met Police patrol car.
He cycled through the red light, and PC Robert Slociak told the court Fahad – on a pedal cycle – had “made no attempt to stop”.
“There were three seconds left on the countdown timer and there were pedestrians using the crossing”, he added.
“I stopped the pedal cycle and explained what I had seen to the rider. The rider stated he thought it was amber..”
Fahad was fined £220 and ordered to pay the £88 victim surcharge, but received a reduced costs bill of £100.
Bike officer catches two in a day
Anthony Cahill, from Tower Hamlets, rode through a red traffic light on Whitechapel Road while on an e-bike.
PC John Moody, from the Met’s Cycle Safety Team, was behind him on the road and witnessed the offence, at 10.33am on August 19 last year.
“There was no reason for the rider not to stop and wait for the next green light”, he wrote, adding that when stopped Cahill “made no sensible reply or excuse”.
Cahill did not enter a plea and was landed with the £418 court bill, including costs, a fine, and the victim surcharge.
Around two-and-a-half hours later, PC Moody caught out another errant cyclist on Newington Causeway.
Grace Mouat, 29, from Walworth, was seen riding a Lime bike through not one but two red lights in quick succession.
PC Moody said he stopped Mouat, who made “no excuse”, and told her she would be penalised for just one of the red light contraventions.
She did not take up the offer of an out-of-court settlement, and was fined £220 with £50 costs and an £88 victim surcharge.
Delivery rider broke rules on food run
Food delivery rider Narcis Diaconu was prosecuted for two offences after a run-in with police on August 6 last year.
Sergeant Darren Watson, who was on patrol in a marked car, said he was waiting at the red light when Diaconu came past on his bike. “Diaconu rode straight past me and the stop line and travelled through the red light”, he said.
“The pedal cycle was used on footway - I watched Diaconu cycle on the footway after turning from Bayliss Road into Waterloo Road.
“He is a food delivery rider and appeared to be approaching a food venue to collect an order.”
Diaconu was convicted of failing to comply with a traffic sign and riding a bike on a footpath.
He was fined £120, ordered to pay £100 in costs, and a £48 victim surcharge.
All the prosecutions were brought through the Single Justice Procedure, in which a magistrate sits in private to decide on a defendant’s guilt.
Cases are brought by police using written evidence, defendants are offered the chance to enter a plea online or by post, and they are later informed of the penalties they face.
