Police chief says clip of Range Rover driver hitting cyclist with car doesn’t tell full story

Northamptonshire Police’s Chief Constable has confirmed that no further action will be taken against a Range Rover driver who struck a cyclist with their car, after CCTV footage depicting the incident was “reviewed and reassessed”. In a press conference yesterday, Police Chief Nick Adderley also suggested that the reviewed footage “captures a lot more” than the 27-second clip uploaded by the cyclist to social media.

Mat, as promised, this incident has been thoroughly reviewed. Earlier this morning I too watched all the video evidence, including local authority CCTV. The decision of the force stands and no further action will be taken. Happy to take this offline, your call? https://t.co/BA2roNWukl

— Nick Adderley (@NorthantsChief) August 9, 2022

On Sunday we reported that cyclist Mat Burnham, who posted a clip to Twitter of a motorist driving into him during a confrontation at a set of traffic lights, blasted Northants Police for what he called “victim-blaming twaddle” after he was informed that no action would be taken against the Range Rover driver because the victim placed himself “in front of the car” by dismounting his bike.

Burnham told road.cc that he believes the driver “took umbrage” at him for filtering past the stationary traffic before adopting the primary position at the junction. In the clip, after the driver sounds her horn, Mat gets off his bike and appears to shout at the motorist, who then drives into him.

> Cyclist driven into by Range Rover driver blasts “victim-blaming twaddle” from police who initially refused to take action 

Sharing a letter from Northants Police after reporting the incident, Mat said the confrontation was “confirmed as an assault” but that the motorist would not be prosecuted as the officer told him that the driver had steered “to her right to try to avoid you”, and that the cyclist had “put himself in harm’s way”.

After the clip sparked a backlash from cyclists on social media, Northants Police’s Chief Constable Nick Adderley replied to Mat on Twitter, telling him that the incident would be “reviewed and reassessed”.

Yesterday, Adderley once again responded to the cyclist using social media, writing: “Mat, as promised, this incident has been thoroughly reviewed.

“Earlier this morning I too watched all the video evidence, including local authority CCTV. The decision of the force stands and no further action will be taken. Happy to take this offline, your call?”

For those of you not on Facebook here’s the clip of @NorthantsChief taking about the incident we’ve all been talking about pic.twitter.com/KhVZENziL6

— Richard S (@Stokesy1966) August 9, 2022

In a press conference held yesterday afternoon, the police chief elaborated on the review process and the decision not to prosecute the driver.

 “The clip that has been put on social media by the individual is exactly that, a very short clip,” Adderley said, referring to Burnham’s original post.

“I thought it was right and proper, given the commentary the cyclist made, that [the incident] is reviewed and reassessed.

“We’ve done that. We’ve obtained all the CCTV evidence that was available on that road – it captures footage that happened before the clip that was shown on social media. And it captures a lot more than that clip actually depicts.

“I even reviewed it this morning [9 August]… and looked through it. I can’t go into detail because it is not right, at this stage, to go into any more detail.

“But what I will say is: If that cyclist wants to take it further, make your complaint. We will take it further and if you want to give permission for me to show all of that video footage, prior, during, and after, you give me that information – I’ll share it.”

road.cc has contacted Mat Burnham for comment.