The reckless cyclist who knocked down a mother-of-two had a death skull tattooed with three blood-red tears after the fatal crash - but hid it from the court, it was revealed today.
Typically skull tattoos represent death and mortality while tears are used by some criminals to show they have killed someone - or it can symbolise being in mourning.
Kim Briggs' husband Matthew wants a new Death by Dangerous Cycling law after Alliston was cleared of manslaughter and only convicted of a Victorian-era 'furious and wanton driving' charge. His lawyer said they will pursue a civil claim for damages against Alliston.
Social media photographs of the cyclist, who has a nose and cheek piercing and a ‘flesh tunnel’ piercing in his ear, reveal the skull tattoo did not exist in July last year - five months after he hit Mrs Briggs.
The self-styled 'anti-social' cyclist faces up to two years in jail because he has failed to show an 'iota of remorse', an Old Bailey judge warned him yesterday.
The husband of a mother-of-two who died after being hit by a thrill-seeking cyclist on an illegal bike with no front brakes described telling their children she would not survive.
Today he described a cycling ‘fetish’ about fixed-gear bikes - known as 'fixies' - like the one that killed his wife.
He said: ‘They are not just illegal they are potentially lethal. You are reducing your braking ability by 50 per cent.
‘Why would you take that risk with somebody else’s life and why, even at the most selfish, endanger yourself?’
Mrs Briggs, a 44-year-old HR consultant, suffered 'catastrophic' injuries when Alliston smashed into her on Old Street on February 12 last year and she died in hospital a week later.
Mr Briggs, who attended every day of the trial, said in his victim impact statement: 'That evening I had to bring my children to the hospital and tell them that mummy would probably die.
'Over the next week my children had to say goodbye to their mother as she lay in the intensive care unit. Our world fell apart. I lost my wife and my best friend. My kids had to say goodbye to their mummy.'
Alliston, now 20, later blamed her for the collision in posts online and said she was lucky not to kill him and damage his new 'fixie' bike, which had no front brakes and is meant for use on a velodrome.
Mrs Briggs, from Lewisham lived for her two children, her husband said, adding: 'This trial has been gruelling and painful, and has impacted our healing process.
'However I refuse to bring my children up with anger. Anger leads to hate. There is enough anger and hate in the world.
'And out of this senseless carnage I will try and bring change in the law, and change in the attitudes. Perhaps in this way I can honour my wife.
'I am trying my very best to give these amazing children the life they deserve, with the emotional support they need. But sometimes the grief overwhelms me.'
Her husband said: 'Kim lived for her children and her family. She wanted to make everyone happy, and for everyone to get the most of of life. 'Make every day count' was Kim's mantra.
'She was quick to smile, slow to judge. And even slower to anger.
He added that it was 'very important to me' that Alliston's 'admission that he lied about Kim being on her mobile phone. We now know categorically that Kim was not using her phone at the time'.
Yesterday Alliston was acquitted of her manslaughter but found guilty of 'wanton and furious driving' when he hit her as she crossed Old Street, east London, on February 12 last year.
An Old Bailey jury found him guilty of causing bodily harm to Mrs Briggs by 'wanton or furious driving' under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act.
In a legal first, he was also accused of the manslaughter of Mrs Briggs, of Lewisham, south London, but he was cleared.
The couple had been together for 26 years before the fatal crash in February.
'Over the next week my children had to say goodbye to their mother as she lay in the intensive care unit.'
Alliston's mother and step father wept in the public gallery and he will be sentenced on September 18.
But Judge Wendy Joseph QC said: 'If you want to rely on remorse, I am bound to say I haven't seen one iota of remorse from Mr Alliston at all - at any stage.
'Now of course he was facing an allegation of manslaughter for which he has been acquitted.
'But in relation to the course of driving, I haven't seen one breath of remorse'.
Mrs Justice Joseph said: 'I don't want to mislead him or his family in any way. I have in mind a custodial sentence. He shouldn't be under any illusion.'
No comments: