Leeds hit and run victim whose leg was 'hanging off' says West Yorkshire Police investigation was a ‘farce'

The man and woman – who have asked to remain anonymous – were hit by a motorbike being ridden by two men while crossing South Parkway in Seacroft on September 6, 2021. The man suffered two bleeds on the brain, several broken bones and his “left leg was hanging off” while the woman – who was pushed out of the way by her partner – suffered damage to her shoulder and has since suffered with PTSD.

The passenger was arrested at the scene and the driver escaped on the bike but a suspect was later arrested and a helmet was found at his property. The couple have complained that despite there being numerous witnesses and CCTV footage provided to West Yorkshire Police, they were unable to provide sufficient evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for charges to be made.

The couple, who were in their 50s at the time of the crash, said that traffic police were also not involved in the investigation as they were told it had to be a “serious incident”. They also said that police initially stated that the bike had been stolen but later backtracked on this and that the main witness told police that men came round to her house to intimidate her, but that this was not logged.

The female victim said: “It’s been a farce from the beginning. It’s like we don’t matter.”

West Yorkshire Police have responded saying that a “thorough investigation” was conducted and that traffic officers were involved in the investigation. The CPS said that it found there was “no realistic prospect of conviction for either defendant”.

The couple said that they had just got off the bus in Seacroft at around 6.50pm before walking to cross at a central reservation. The woman said: “I didn’t even make it to the central reservation when a bike came flying down and (my partner) pushed me out of the way. If he hadn’t done that it would have hit me.”

The male said that he was knocked forward by the bike and that it then went over his left leg between his knee and ankle, which left it “hanging off”. He said that he “doesn’t remember anything” and that as a result of the injuries he will not be able to work again.

The couple added that after the collision one man “grabbed” the passenger of the motorbike but that the driver was able to escape. The female said: “The passenger was arrested but said he didn’t know who was driving.”

Six days after the crash police released a CCTV image in an appeal to identify the driver of the “stolen” motorbike, saying that it was travelling at 50mph at the time of the collision. The couple said that after this appeal police arrested a suspect and found a helmet at his address.

The couple said that other CCTV was acquired from a Tesco showing the driver putting the helmet on. The woman also said that traffic police were not involved in the investigation and that when they asked about this, they were told by a sergeant that they only get involved when “it’s a serious accident”. The male said: “Did one of us need to get killed? I was lying there with my leg hanging off.”

One of the main witnesses confirmed to the Yorkshire Evening Post that on two occasions men went round to her house to ask for information and that she told police she felt “intimidated and harassed”. The couple said that when they brought this up with the police that there was “no record that she had reported it”.

The woman said that later into the investigation the police began to backtrack on whether the bike was stolen. A letter from the CPS after a review of their decision not to press charges states that the bike owner was approached by police but that he would not provide a statement.

Investigations also found that one of the suspects’ phones had been within 560 metres of a speed camera that the motorbike had driven through, but this, again, was not deemed sufficient enough.

The couple were also upset that they were not provided updates frequently enough and said that when they spoke to police they were “confrontational and arrogant”.

The woman said: “It’s a total joke. There are so many discrepancies.

"The police make such a big thing of taking bikes off the road but it’s not the bikes that injure people, it’s the idiots who drive them.

After a review backed the CPS’s decision not to press charges, the couple have submitted a complaint to West Yorkshire Police and West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

The woman said: “We’re not upset about not getting the decision from the CPS – it’s about West Yorkshire Police’s incompetence.”

In response, a spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police said: “A thorough investigation was conducted into this matter and the officer in the case liaised with the Roads Policing Unit and Major Collision Enquiry Team throughout before a file was submitted to the CPS for a charging decision.

“Leeds District Police takes the issue of nuisance bikes seriously and has an initiative led by the Leeds East Neighbourhood Policing Team, which works with the Off-Road Bike Team and Roads Policing Unit officers to carry out targeted operations in hotspots across the district, including the Seacroft area.”

A CPS spokesperson said: “Following a thorough review of all the available evidence in this case, we concluded that our legal test had not been met as there was no realistic prospect of conviction for either defendant. This decision was upheld by an independent prosecutor following a Victim’s Right to Review. We know this is a disappointing outcome so we have provided a full written explanation to the victim.”