Family's terror as Grey Dyke 'flips' their car after smashing into them at traffic lights
By
Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:26 AM on 06th February 2010
Former BBC Director General Greg Dyke apologised to a 'terrified' family after he crashed into their car with so much force that it flipped on to its roof.
The accident left two small children dangling upside down in the vehicle, which was written off when Dyke's silver Lexus hit the back of it.
The children's father, who had been driving the car but was stationary at a traffic light when the accident occurred, then had to be restrained from physically attacking the millionaire television executive.
Mr Dyke later wrote a letter to the family in which he apologised for their ordeal, which happened in broad daylight after he 'lost concentration'.
Aftermath: The Manwell family car, left on its roof and, on the right, Dyke's damaged car which ploughed into it at traffic lights
Yesterday the court heard that the eight-week-old baby and two-year-old
child in the back of the Peugeot were unhurt, but that Stephen Manvell
and his partner Lucie Welsman, 31, both suffered neck and back
injuries.
Careless driver: Greg Dyke hobbled into court on crutches - the former BBC chief has gout
Prosecutor David Burgess said: 'Dyke had not seen the Peugeot stopped at red lights and collided with the rear and it flipped on to its roof.'
Mr Burgess added: 'A witness said he was driving at 40mph when
the Lexus overtook him.
'He [the witness] stopped at the crash scene and tried to calm down the driver of the Peugeot and stop him from attacking the driver of the silver Lexus.'
Recalling the accident, Mr Manvell, 34, said after the hearing : 'The children were screaming. I heard a screech of hard braking and he ploughed into us.'
Dyke - who represented himself at Exeter Magistrates' Court - admitted careless driving on the A30 near Exeter, Devon in October last year.
Mr Manvell, from Feniton, Devon, said: 'Mr Dyke sent us a letter of
apology saying it was entirely his fault and he was glad that everyone
was okay.'
On crutches because of an attack of gout, Dyke told magistrates: 'I have no excuse to make. I lost concentration.'
He said he suddenly braked and veered to the left towards a barrier
but the front of his Lexus caught under the other car and flipped it
over.
Dyke, 62, who is now chairman of the British Film Institute and
lives in Twickenham, told the Daily Mail: 'He was obviously annoyed at
the time, I did not really talk to him that much. But he was annoyed at
the time.'
Dyke was fined £600 and ordered to pay £75 costs and had six points put on his licence - which has three points on it already for a speeding offence in May 2008.
Shaken: A clearly shaken Mr Manvell clutches his eight-week-old baby boy after the crash
At least Dyke had the decency to admit it was all his fault, and wrote a letter of apology. Give him some credit. Hundreds of accidents occur in the uk every day and most don't even make the news,why such a fuss because its Greg Dyke.
- Polly Filler, UK, 06/2/2010 11:18
Report abuse