A man has appeared in court charged with murder after a cyclist who was allegedly hit deliberately by a car died.
Father-of-three Richard Smith, 50, suffered serious head injuries in a crash in Norwich on May 8 just after 5pm. He died in hospital three days later.
David Morgan, 40, had previously been charged with attempted murder and driving with excess alcohol after his Mercedes CLA 180 reportedly hit Mr Smith’s bike. He was then charged with murder after Mr Smith died.
Morgan is said to have failed to stop after the crash and was arrested two hours later just over half a mile away.
He was arrested on suspicion of murder, dangerous driving, drink-driving and drug driving before being charged with attempted murder and drink-driving.
Prosecutor Josephine Jones told a previous hearing that Morgan stood accused of ‘a deliberate targeting of a cyclist’.
Following Mr Smith’s death Morgan, who is understood to be a forklift driver, was charged with murder and appeared before Norwich Crown Court on Monday.
He was not asked to enter a plea and no bail application was made.
Richard Smith, a sales manager at a fire safety firm, suffered serious head injuries in the incident which is said to have happened during the evening rush hour in Norwich
David Morgan, 40, appeared in court charged with murder after seeing the charge upgraded following Mr Smith’s death
Mr Smith pictured in a photo released by his family, who said in a tribute they were ‘struggling to make sense of such a tragic loss’
Judge Anthony Bate set a provisional trial date of November 2 for an estimated ten days.
A plea hearing was set for July 3 with Morgan to be remanded in custody until then.
In a previous tribute Mr Smith’s family said he was a keen Norwich City football fan, a blood and organ donor and ‘a proud dad’ to his three children.
Mr Smith was also called ‘a much-loved partner, dad, brother, son, friend and colleague’ as his family said they were ‘all struggling to make sense of such a tragic loss’.
‘We will remember him with love and kindness and for some truly terrible dance moves,’ they added.
He had been UK sales manager at fire safety firm Delta Fire, which said at the time of his death that Mr Smith was a ‘much-loved colleague’.
‘Richard was a valued member of our team and will be deeply missed by everyone who had the privilege of working with him,’ the company added.
Norfolk Police said at the time of the crash it had received reports of ‘a cyclist being deliberately hit by a white Mercedes CLA 180 Sport car’ just after 5pm on May 8 in Chartwell Road.
