Overview
- The senior Metropolitan Police investigator, Mark Still, testified he found no defects in the 2021 Volkswagen ID.4’s steering, braking or acceleration systems.
- He said testing showed the vehicle would not move without deliberate action and that braking would override cruise control or automatic acceleration.
- Prosecutors argue the crash was caused by pedal misapplication, a known phenomenon in which drivers mistakenly press the accelerator thinking it is the brake.
- The defendant, Ashenafei Demissie, 53, denies causing death and serious injury by careless or inconsiderate driving and has suggested a sensor touch caused the car to ‘jump’.
- The November 25, 2022 incident near London Bridge killed five-year-old Fareed Amir and seriously injured Demissie’s 12-year-old son, Raphael; the trial continues at the Old Bailey.