A 70 YEAR OLD MAN STEPPED BACKWARDS INTO THE PATH
A 70 YEAR OLD MAN STEPPED BACKWARDS INTO THE PATH OF A BUS
AS HE WAS CROSSING THE ROAD, AN INQUEST HEARD TODAY (WED).
LESLIE KIRBY, A RETIRED PHOTOGRAPHER, OF DE FRENE (CORRECT)
ROAD, SYDENHAM, WAS TRYING TO CROSS DENMARK HILL AT 6.
45PM ON
JANUARY 13, SOUTHWARK CORONERS COURT HEARD.
HE WAS STANDING IN
THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD WHEN ONCOMING TRAFFIC MADE HIM
INVOLUNTARILY TAKE A STEP BACKWARDS, THE COURT HEARD.
BUS DRIVER LYRIACOS PAVLOU (CORRECT), BASED AT CAMBERWELL
BUS GARAGE, WAS DRIVING A NUMBER 40 BUS FROM HERNE HILL TO
CAMBERWELL WHEN THE ACCIDENT HAPPENED.
” WAS OVERTAKING A NUMBER 60 BUS WHICH HAD STOPPED AT A
REQUEST STOP,” HE SAID.
”I SAW THE MAN AND ALLOWED TWO FEET OF
SPACE TO PASS HIM.
”AS I WENT PAST I HEARD A NOISE.
I LOOKED IN MY MIRROR AND
SAY HIM LYING ON THE ROAD.
”
MR PAVLOU HAD BEEN A BUS DRIVER FOR ALMOST 18 YEARS, AND HAD
A BADGE FOR 12 YEARS OF SAFE DRIVING, HE TOLD THE COURT.
WITNESS KENNETH FORSYTH, AN INSURANCE BROKER OF LANSDOWNE
COURT, BRIGHTON ROAD, PURLEY, WHO WAS RIDING A MOTORCYCLE ALONG
DENMARK HILL, TOLD THE INQUEST:
”I SAW THE MAN TAKE A STEP BACK WHEN HE WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF
THE ROAD.
THE VOLUME OF TRAFFIC MADE HIM REALISE HE WAS NOT IN A
SAFE POSITION, WHICH MADE HIM TAKE A STEP BACK INTO THE PATH OF
THE BUS.
”
BUS 2
PATHOLOGIST DR CHARLES NAYLOR OF ST THOMAS’S HOSPITAL SAID
THAT MR KIRBY DIED OF PULMONARY EMBOLISM AS A RESULT OF THE
ACCIDENT.
CORONER DR DAVID FOSTER SAID: ”THE WEIGHT OF EVIDENCE IS
THAT HE INVOLUNTARILY TOOK A STEP BACKWARDS AND WAS KNOCKED DOWN
BY THE BUS.
”
HE RECORDED THE VERDICT ‘ACCIDENT’.
ENDS
CENTRAL NEWS 33 GOODGE STREET W1 01 323 2899
16 APRIL 86
QUERIES: 236 0116
CANS.
.
.
.
