BEIU: REGRET OF DEATH CRASH DRIVER

A lorry driver accused of chatting on his mobile phone for up to 10 minutes before running over a journalist as she cycled to work told a court of his regret for ‘not looking properly’. 

 

Petre Beiu, 40, was allegedly engrossed in a telephone conversation when he hit Times reporter Mary Bowers causing her ‘life-changing’ injuries, jurors heard. 

 

Beiu was allegedly using his phone with an earpiece before he turned his tipper truck left into the path of Ms Bowers, causing her to fall under his front wheels with ‘no means of escape’. 

 

He got out of the lorry after hearing her screams and being alerted by horrified members of the public.

But Beiu forgot to put the handbrake on, causing it to roll 1.5 metres forward, Snaresbrook Crown Court has heard.

Ms Bowers, of Stepney, east London, was rushed to hospital after the collision, near the newspaper’s offices in Wapping on November 4 last year.

Jurors have heard the reporter remains unwell 13 months after the crash.

 

Giving evidence with the aid of a Romanian interpreter, Beiu told the jury he did look but ‘should have looked better’.

 

Wearing a black padded jacket, a striped t-shirt and jeans, Beiu insisted he checked both his right and left mirrors as he approached the junction, particularly the left as he was turning in that direction.

 

‘I looked on both sides especially my left. 

 

‘I indicated and came slowly to the (traffic) lights.’

 

Beiu said he stopped before the box designated for bicycles and motorcycles.  

 

When asked by his defence barrister, Rowan Jenkins, if he recalled anyone in front while he was at the lights, he replied: ‘I can’t remember seeing anyone, no’. 

 

He added: ‘I was waiting for the green light and I was looking on my left. 

 

‘When I started moving, maybe I did not look enough and this is what I will regret for the rest of my life. 

 

‘I did not pay enough attention.

 

‘I can’t turn back time now.’

 

When asked by Mr Jenkins how often he checked his left side mirrors, Beiu responded: ‘As many times as it takes. I always check the mirrors every two or three seconds especially when it is crowded.’

 

But the lorry driver conceded it was ‘not crowded at all’ at the junction where the crash occurred.

 

Although he checked his mirrors when the traffic lights turned green, Beiu told jurors: ‘I don’t think I looked properly or enough.’

 

‘I looked in the mirrors but I should have looked better and this would have never happened.’

 

Once he started to move the lorry at the lights, Beiu said: ‘I heard noises – a scream – and I stopped. 

 

‘I realised something has happened. 

 

‘As an instinct I stopped the car. I opened my door to see if something has happened. I checked the mirrors again. 

 

‘There was nothing. 

 

‘Then I saw people screaming and pointing towards my car, under the car. 

 

‘I opened the door and I pulled the handbrake. 

 

‘I was very, very scared and I wanted to help.’

 

Beiu added: ‘I got out, I saw the car was moving and I pulled the handbrake.’

 

Mr Jenkins asked: ‘So it was moving when you started to get out?

 

‘Yes, I felt it moving a little,’ Beiu responded. 

 

‘I reached it (the handbrake) with my hand and I pulled. 

 

‘I wanted to do something.’  

 

Asked whether he was using his phone at the time of the accident, Beiu said ‘no’, insisting he had called a friend only after the crash.

 

Beiu, of (414) Honeypot Lane, Stanmore, northwest London, denies dangerous driving. 

 

The trial continues.