Sze-Ming Cheung

Sze-Ming Cheung died in a road accident on 7 June 2018 on Reepham Road, Swannington, but it wasn't known who caused it.

Sze-Ming Cheung had been hit by a grey Nissan Navara truck that had swerved to avoid a van that had been overtaking Sze-Ming Cheung on a bend and had been on the wrong side of the road.

He died at the scene. His cause of death was given as trauma as a result of a road traffic collision.

Sze-Ming Cheung had been out training for an Ironman race on his bicycle.

It was further heard that the driver of the truck that had hit Sze-Ming Cheung had been over the drink drive limit but that because the police had not summonsed him for drink-driving within the statutory six month time limit that he could not be charged.

The driver of the truck had been a 57-year-old man and it was thought that he had been more than twice over the drink-drive limit at the time. When the police arrived they smelt alcohol in his van and he failed both a breath test and a blood test.

The man was not charged with dangerous driving or having caused Sze-Ming Cheung's death as it was heard that he had swerved to avoid the van, the driver of which was never identified.

When the truck driver was questioned he said that he had been driving up the hill when the van overtook Sze-Ming Cheung on his side of the road which 'caused him to swerve and somehow he collided with the cyclist'.

A Norfolk Police forensic investigator said  that the unknown van driver had been the 'catalyst' of the crash by overtaking Sze-Ming Cheung on the bend 'when it was unsafe'. However, he added that due to the fact that the truck driver had been over the drink drive limit that that might have 'resulted in him being less able to deal with the rapidly changing situation'.

The truck driver had been driving to Easton College at the time to pick up his daughter.

He said that when he saw the van that he swerved to avoid it and then felt the back end of his truck swing out and hit Sze-Ming Cheung before he then crashed into the bank on the opposite side of the road.

The inquest heard that Sze-Ming Cheung would have had no chance of avoiding the collision.

A suspect was questioned in relation to being the driver of the van but he denied any involvement and no further progress was made in determining the van driver's identity.

The police investigation into the incident closed in June 2019 with no prosecutions.

Sze-Ming Cheung's family challenged the decision under the Victims' Right to Review scheme but the police said that no further action would be taken against either person interviewed in relation to the collision.

Following the closing of the case and the appeal, Norfolk Police said, 'We acknowledge that elements of this investigation fell below the standards expected and the failure to prosecute a drink driver involved in the crash was unacceptable. We take a firm stance on drink drive offences which is why it is all the more disappointing for an opportunity of justice to be missed. We have met with Mr Cheung's family to explain this and offer our apologies. The officers involved have been given management advice. We understand this offers limited comfort to the family of Mr Cheung in their pursuit for justice. However, while no action has been taken against people interviewed in this case, it remains open and should further information come to light, we would review this and respond accordingly'.

Sze-Ming Cheung's family had run the Chung Hing Chinese restaurant in Reepham Road, Hellesdon whilst Sze-Ming Cheung had run Casey’s fish and chip shop next door.

He had been out training for an Ironman race in Italy at the time on a bicycle that he had built himself. He had been a member of the Norwich Road Runners club and had run with the Coltishall Jaguars for some years. He had also been a regular in the Catton Park Run.

Sze-Ming Cheung had been born in Hong Kong in December 1973 and had attended Hellesdon High School.