Dave Clifton blasted the decision to charge him with a criminal offence as ‘petty’ and ‘ludicrous’ (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
A vigilante cyclist who reported a motorist for using his phone behind the wheel has hit out at the ‘petty’ decision to charge him with a criminal offence.
Dave Clifton, 56, used his helmet cam to film a Range Rover driver using the device as he cycled through Belgravia, central London, at lunchtime on August 22 last year.
But after handing the footage over to police he found the tables turned on himself, with officers claiming he ‘could pose a danger to other road users’ by being on the wrong side.
Mr Clifton, who lives in southwest London, will now stand trial next month after being charged with riding a bicycle without due care and attention.
Speaking to the Evening Standard, he said: ‘It is ludicrous. I don’t know if it it malicious or incompetence.’
He told the paper the case against him is ‘petty’, with the only evidence being his own footage.
Mr Clifton used his helmet cam to film a Range Rover driver using the device as he cycled through Belgravia (Picture: Ella Millward)
In it, Mr Clifton is riding along Pont Street shortly after 1.30pm whenb he spots the Range Rover coming the other way and turns around to film the driver using his mobile phone.
But Met traffic cop Natasha Springford said he was ‘in the middle of the road’ and ‘very close to the Range Rover on the opposite side’.
Mr Clifton said: ‘The police have ignored the filtering motorcyclist and the driver using a mobile phone, and have chosen to prosecute me. This seems to be malicious.’
The Range Rover driver was sent an ‘advisory letter’ by the police but faces no criminal case.
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