Executive accused of crashing car into pedicab faces 18 month trial delay

A drunk executive accused of crashing a stolen car into a pedicab after a police chase through London’s West End must wait 18 months for his trial.

Taylor Farrimond, 31, was said to be ‘incredibly intoxicated’ when he stole an unlocked Mercedes with the keys still in the ignition and raced cops through Covent Garden on 11 April.

The former head of operations of Koba, a coworking office company, eventually smashed into a pedicab on Bow Street, causing minor injuries to several people and was arrested at the scene.

He was said to have damaged a Land Rover Defender on Russell Street before he stole the silver Mercedes and led police on a car chase, lasting less than ten minutes.

South African Farrimond appeared at Southwark Crown Court today (Mon) wearing a dark navy quarter-zip jumper.

He did not enter pleas to charges of aggravated vehicle taking and assault as Judge Martyn Levett fixed his five day trial for 27 November 2027.

Earlier prosecutor Sarah Madden said: ‘The defendant had been drinking with his friend at All Bar One.’

She said Farrimond’s companion described him as ‘normal and didn’t think anything of it’ until a bar worker told him to go outside and check on his friend.

‘His friend saw the defendant had climbed on top of a number of vehicles and damaged them.

‘He tried the handle of a number of vehicles and found one open with the keys inside. He was incredibly intoxicated at the time.

‘He drove it around central London, and after a very short distance, he collided with a pedicab, destroying it, before colliding with a taxi cab.

‘From CCTV it appears a woman was struck.’

The prosecutor said Farrimond ‘kicked a uniformed officer in the head’ after he was taken to hospital, ‘and that is the actual bodily harm charge.’

She added: ‘He made the deliberate decision to endanger other users. He is driving intoxicated with alcohol and drugs.’

Footage from the scene of the carnage shows a luxury sports motor with a wrecked bumper and shrapnel strewn across the street.

Farrimond, of Milton Keynes, Bucks, was freed on bail ahead of his plea and trial preparation hearing at Southwark Crown Court on 27 July.

He is charged with aggravated vehicle taking and assault causing actual bodily harm to a police officer following his arrest.
ENDS