A MUCH loved cyclist died after he failed to stop at a junction and was hit by a car, an inquest has heard. 

Leon Mboneli, 44, of Southend, died after the crash on December 27 last year which saw his bike crash into a Peugeot 207 in Salisbury Avenue, Westcliff.

He was rushed to The Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel where he spent three days in a coma surrounded by family and friends before his death on December 30.

An inquest into his death was held at Essex Coroner’s Court, Chelmsford, on Wednesday. 

DC Brian Sitch, of Essex Police’s serious collision investigation unit, told the court CCTV appeared to show Mr Mboneli had not stopped his bike at the junction. 

He said: “Mr Mboneli was riding his pedal cycle along Newlands Road towards the junction of Salisbury Avenue.

“At the same time, the Peugot 207 was travelling south and Mr Mboneli rode into it’s path and was struck.

“The expectation would be of the personal vehicle stopping at the road to allow oncoming traffic to drive past.

“I did not see the cyclist stop before continuing across the road.”

An intensive care unit consultant confirmed the time of death as 5.09pm on December 30.

A post mortem exam conducted in Southend on January 20, 2023, concluded the cause of death as a traumatic brain injury.

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> Southend's Leon Mboneli died after crash

Concerns were raised over whether the driver exceeded the 30 miles per hour speed limit on the road.

However officers told the court a scene reconstruction to establish the car’s speed could not be done as the hard drive on the CCTV’s computer had corrupted.

Footage of the CCTV was saved to a USB drive three days later on December 30.

Rufaro Mboneli, Leon’s sister, said: “If there was a murder and police went to see the suspect three days later, that would be very concerning.”

Detective Sergeant Alex Black added: “I viewed the CCTV on the evening, what we needed was to go back and download footage evidentially and have CCTV on a USB stick for the forensics team to validate the testing.

“The test would involve recording a police car going through a camera at different speeds, comparing those speeds to the incident and drawing a conclusion.”

Ms Brown concluded Leon Mboneli died on December 30, 2022 as a result of a road traffic accident.