A DRIVER who struck a Deliveroo cyclist in Reading is now on trial charged with causing death by dangerous driving.

Joshua Julian, 27, of Skinner Driver, Wokingham, has pleaded not guilty to causing the death of Tomaz Krohme on June 10, 2020.

The incident happened at the junction of Addington Road and Alexander Road at about 7.25pm. Mr Krohme was ‘thrown’ off his bike and into a tree.

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Shortly after, the 35-year-old sadly died from his injuries and Julian was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.

Opening the case on Tuesday (May 9) at Reading Crown Court, prosecutor William Eaglestone said that forensic police evidence believe that Julian was driving at 44mph in a 20mph speed limit zone.

He was also found with namely 4.9ug/L of cannabis in his system.

A post-mortem examination of Mr Krohme also found that he was cycling with alcohol in his system - almost two and a half times the legal limit. An eyewitness is expected to say Mr Krohme was cycling ‘quite fast’ and didn’t stop at the give way sign.

The jury heard that Julian, who was 25 years old at the time of the collision, was driving back from the Royal Berkshire Hospital where he was working as a health care assistant at the time.

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Mr Eaglestone said: “This case is about a road collision in the evening of June 10, 2020, mid-summer during the first national lockdown.

“Mr Julian’s white Hyandai hit a cyclist. In the collision, Mr Krohme was thrown from his bike through the air and into a tree.

“Very often in day-to-day life, road traffic collisions are described as accidents, ‘road traffic accidents’, you might hear on the news there has been an accident on the M4.

“But whether or not it was an accident is what we have to determine, as the prosecution say this very sadly was not an accident.

“This stretch of residential road was a long straight road, it had speed bumps, clearly marked 20mph speed limits.

“Scientific tests and calculations in this case were that Mr Julian’s Hyandai was not travelling at 20mph, not even traveling at 30ph – it was travelling at 44mph at the time of the crash.

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“While it would be simple to say that the cause of the collision was Mr Krohme’s failure to give way, expert witness has revealed that Mr Julian’s speed was significant to the injuries sustained and if he was travelling at the speed limit this collision could have been avoided.”

The trial continues.