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A “self-centred, deceitful” company director has been told to prepare for jail after he was convicted of causing the death of a well-known motorcyclist from York.
Biker Nick Gilroy, 64, was riding within the speed limit when William Beckett, 81, pulled out of a side road without looking and hit him, Paul Mitchell, prosecuting, told a jury at York Crown Court.
“Mr Gilroy swerved at the last moment to try and avoid him but he couldn’t do so. He was hit by the defendant’s car and he was thrown off his motorcycle,” said Mr Mitchell.
Mr Gilroy died of his injuries some weeks later.
Beckett claimed to the jury that he always stopped and looked in both directions at a give way sign and he was “absolutely sure” he had looked at the junction.
He believed his view of the motorcycle may have been obscured by a bicycle.
The jury convicted him unanimously after 80 minutes in retirement, including lunch, of causing Mr Gilroy’s death by careless driving.
The Recorder of York, Judge Sean Morris, told Beckett he had been convicted on evidence that was “so overwhelming it was unanswerable”.
He adjourned sentence for a probation officer to write a report on Beckett and told the defendant to put his affairs in order because there was a “very real possibility” he would be jailed.
“You have not shown one shred of remorse or feeling for the family of your victim,” he said.
“Your futile attempts in interview and in evidence to distance yourself from your responsibility has in my view exposed you as a self-centred deceitful liar.”
Beckett, of Back Lane, Vernham Dean, Hampshire, had denied the charge of causing the death of Mr Gilroy by careless driving on the B6265 in Aldborough south of Boroughbridge on May 20, 2023.
He did not comment before leaving the courthouse.
Mr Gilroy loved riding his motorcycle. In 2008, he gave up his job to go on a six-month 25,000 mile motorcycle tour of all the states of the USA. On his return to the UK he wrote a book about his journey and went on to became an international training consultant.
In his closing speech to the jury, Mr Mitchell said: “He didn’t need or deserve to die on that road that day.”
Opening the prosecution, he had told the jury Mr Gilroy was heading south from Boroughbridge along the B6265 at 5.40pm in fine, sunny weather, and was very visible as he had three headlights shining in the front of his vehicle.
Collision experts for the prosecution and the defence agreed that he was riding within the 40mph speed limit as he approached a crossroads in Aldborough.
He would have been in view for 160 metres or nine seconds at his speed when Beckett drove up to the junction along Front Street on Mr Gilroy’s left, intending to cross over the B6265 into Chapel Hill, the jury heard.
Mr Mitchell said Mr Gilroy had right of way, but instead of obeying the give way signs on his road, Beckett pulled out into the motorcyclist’s path.
In evidence, Beckett told the jury he had been driving since he was 18 and had had no penalty points for 40 years. He had been seeing friends in North Yorkshire and was on his way to a social engagement in North Nottinghamshire when the crash occurred.