A mystery man who became the world’s most hated cyclist after he knocked over a little girl then rode off without checking she was ok is finally unmasked today – and he is still blaming the child.
Video of the incident which occurred on a snowy path in a Belgian nature reserve on Christmas Day in 2020 has since been viewed tens of millions of times globally – but the culprit’s identity has always remained secret.
Today the Daily Mail can finally reveal that the notorious cyclist is retiree Jacques Davenne, the president of a local cycling club – who, incredibly, still blames his five-year-old victim for not moving out of his way.
Unrepentant Davenne, 66, insisted today: ‘I did nothing wrong… I rang my bell several times.’
And he even claimed to be looking into an appeal.
The famous viral video was back in the news this week when it emerged that the rogue cyclist had lost a long-running legal battle with his five-year-old victim Neia Mpasa’s father.
Davenne, who has long hidden behind Belgian secrecy rules, was not named in the proceedings but was finally tracked down by the Daily Mail today.
Retired gardener Davenne was originally given a suspended sentence for involuntary assaulting the girl due to negligence but not given a punishment after the judge decided he had already suffered sufficiently through huge worldwide criticism on social media.
Footage shows the cyclist as he continues to ride his bike after the girl is knocked to the ground in Baraque Michel
Today the Daily Mail can finally reveal that the notorious cyclist is retiree Jacques Davenne (pictured), the president of a local cycling club
But Davenne then sued father Patrick Mpasa for defamation over having first posted the footage saying his privacy that the furore it provoked had left him feeling so threatened, he had been scared to leave his house.
Initially Davenne won the case – and the girl’s family were ordered to pay him 4,500 Euros in compensation.
Instead they appealed and this week, after a protracted three-year legal battle, a court in Liege overturned the decision in favour of Neia’s parents.
Davenne was still smarting at this new ruling against him when the Daily Mail confronted him today.
The still furious cyclist said: ’I’m upset the case went against me as I still feel I did nothing wrong and I am going to have a meeting with my lawyer to see if we can take it further.
‘The issue I had was with my image being posted online, that wasn’t fair and social media can be a huge problem. He had no right to do that.
‘My friends recognised me and kept asking me about what happened and I told them it was an accident, just one of those things.
‘But it quickly went out of control, even after I spoke with the father as a friend of mine knew his wife, I suggested we drop it and forget about it as no harm was done.
‘But then the police were involved and I was even kept in custody when the investigation started, it seemed to get out of hand very quickly for something that was very small.’
He went on: ’I still don’t see how the decision was overturned, as far as I can see my image shouldn’t have been posted on the internet.
‘The court said it was freedom of expression and contributed to the debate between cyclists and pedestrians, that may be the case, but it should not have been posted online.
‘I just don’t understand how they came to a totally different verdict. That’s why I am going to speak with my lawyer to see what he says.’
And turning back to the original incident, he explained why he still feels he has been wrongly accused.
The cyclist emerged from a bend in the snowy road before knocking into the young girl and sending her toppling into the snow
He added: ‘I was cycling along the track very gently, and I saw the girl and her mother in front of me, the father was filming.
‘I did what any good cyclist does and rang my bell several times, but they obviously didn’t hear me, so I cycled past but as I did so I slipped and lost my balance slightly.
‘That’s when I knocked the little girl, I had put my leg out to balance myself, I didn’t realise I had hit her and she had fallen over as I had cycled past.
‘Then the father chased after me and berated me.
‘The father was very aggressive to begin with, he went to hit me, he said I had knocked her over on purpose and said he was going to call the police.
‘I said it was an accident and then carried on.
‘It was only later when I saw the video on social media that I realised he had filmed me. A friend knew the man’s wife and I contacted him to say, “Let’s drop it.”
‘But he was insistent and the case came to court.
‘I still can’t believe this video went all over the world.’
He said: ‘This has all been very difficult for me, my cycling friends understand it was an accident, but I’ve been made to look very bad because of the video.
‘Thankfully I’ve never met the man again even though I’ve been cycling along there since – but psychologically it has affected me, although as I said it will not stop me cycling.
‘Because I can assure you that one thing – I am still cycling and I intend to carry on cycling, it’s part of life and this won’t put me off at all, I’ve been riding for years, I’m passionate about it.’
The footage of Neia falling over after being hit by Davenne during a snowy walk in the Baraque Michel nature reserve near Verviers went around the world after it was first shared on Facebook by her dad just over five years ago.
Previously furious Mr Mpasa said he had chased after Davenne and managed to make him stop – but the cyclist had been unrepentant.
‘He explained what happened and asked us to withdraw the police complaint, but he showed no remorse and did not apologise,’ said Mr Mpasa at the time.
‘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.’
The family believed it was not an accident, as the man did not stop to check if the girl was okay and carried on cycling down the path.
During a court hearing on February 3, 2021, Davenne claimed that the incident had happened because he had tried to keep his balance.
During a court hearing on February 3, 2021, Davenne (pictured) claimed that the incident had happened because he had tried to keep his balance
He said: ‘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.’
But the prosecution argued his statement seemed very unlikely.
‘He was simply annoyed by the people on the path whom he had to swerve around all the time,’ they said. ‘He gave the child a “knee punch” out of sheer annoyance because an obstacle was in his way for the umpteenth time.’
