A cyclist who was accused of deliberately knocking over a five-year-old girl has won his lawsuit against her father.
The unnamed man went viral online after Patrick Mpasa, the father of the young girl, shared the clip of the cyclist kneeing his daughter in the back, causing the youngster to fall over.
Patrick was filming his family going on a walk on Christmas Day 2020 when the cyclist knocked her out of his way.
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At the time of the incident, Patrick accused the man of showing 'no remorse and did not apologise'.
"What's more, he accused me of being aggressive. He claimed that he had not seen that Neïa had fallen, that he would otherwise have stopped... I have the impression that he thinks it is normal," the aggrieved father added.
Defending his decision to share the clip, Patrick insisted that he didn't want a 'witch-hunt' for the bloke, but simply wanted an apology from him.
He went on: "A lot of people tell me that I should have hit him, but I don't agree and in any case, I was in front of my children which would have made things even worse for them. I also don't want a witch hunt, I just want him to apologise."
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Patrick later filed a police report and, during a court hearing in February 2021, the cyclist insisted that he 'did not immediately realise she had been knocked over' and he denied intentionally pushing her over.
He told the court at the time: "When I was riding close to the girl, I felt my rear wheel sliding.
"To avoid a fall, I balanced myself with a movement of my knee.
"I felt that I might have hit the girl, but did not immediately realise she had been knocked over."
As a result, the unnamed individual was ordered to pay €1 compensation.
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Several months later, the cyclist then filed a lawsuit against Patrick, suing him for defamation after the viral video allegedly made him fearful to leave his home.
At the time he'd requested €4,500 (£3,911) in compensation - the same price as the bike he claims he can no longer use.
Over two years on from filing the complaint, the cyclist has won the lawsuit.
According to The Sun, how much compensation the man will receive will be determined in April 2024.
At the beginning of the lawsuit, Patrick's lawyer said people have freedom of expression and therefore his client had done nothing wrong.
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Jacques Engelbert said: "We have the right to express ourselves. We have the right to post or have posted a video on the internet.
"In this case, we must check whether we have exceeded the limits of this freedom of expression."
Talk about a turn of events...
Topics: UK News
Niamh Shackleton