Polly Friedhoff was “catapulted with incredible force” after being hit during a lunchtime walk as she and a friend made their way along a towpath near Iffley Lock, south of the centre of Oxford on November 20 2022. She died in hospital 12 days later, Oxford Crown Court heard on Monday. Edward Bressan, 56, of Newton Road, Oxford, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of “causing bodily harm by wanton or furious driving,” an offence under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act.
The prosecution says the cyclist was “reckless” and told the jury “the case concerns the nature of Mr Bressan’s driving of his bicycle”. Ms Friedhoff was “propelled” by the force of the bike, pushed across the path and fell on her face, without time to try to break her fall, according to her friend Ewa Huggins who had joined her on their routine stroll. Ms Huggins insisted the situation happened suddenly, without warning and Ms Friedhoff was hit from behind.
She told the court: “Polly was on my left. We were chatting and walking fairly close together. The path is not very wide and suddenly I saw Polly basically flying in front of me and falling.
Ms Huggins said they were about a foot apart and her friend landed “at an angle with incredible force – actually, I can still hear how her scalp hit.” She added: “She did not have enough time to put her hands out. She just went straight out to the side and lay very uncomfortably with one of her arms out.
“She fell across the path..
