A father who was ordered to pay compensation to a cyclist for filming him as he knocked over his young daughter has finally won his legal battle.
The footage was filmed and posted to social media by five-year-old Neia’s dad, Patrick Mpasa, during their family walk in a nature reserve in Baraque Michel, Belgium, on Christmas Day, 2020.
The cyclist, who was only identified as Jacques D, was originally taken to court in Verviers for kneeing the little girl, only to be given a suspended sentence because he had been criticised enough on social media.
Jacques then sued Mr Mpasa for defamation, because the backlash the video received resulted in him feeling so threatened by the public that he was scared to leave his own house.
In April 2023, the child’s father was ordered to pay the cyclist 4,500 euros in compensation.
But now, after a lengthy appeal, a court in Liege has ruled out the original decision in favour of Jacques D, who is president of a local cycling club.
Lawyer Jacques Englebert, who represented Mr Mpasa, told the Daily Mail: ‘In essence, the court said that posting the video was a freedom of expression and it was not a crime, so the original ruling was overturned.
‘The court said that by uploading the clip, the father had contributed to the public debate on cyclists and pedestrians, and it was not an issue.’
A father who was ordered to pay compensation to a cyclist for filming him as he knocked over his young daughter has finally won his legal battle. The Belgian cyclist (left) went viral after he was filmed kneeing the little girl as he rode past her and her family
Footage shows the cyclist as he continues to ride his bike after the girl is knocked to the ground in Baraque Miche
Mr Englebert added: ‘The cyclist had argued that by uploading the video, he had been identified, and the initial reports said he was between forty and fifty years old when he was in fact well over sixty years old.
‘Uploading the video did not identify him or his address, he says he was insulted as a result, but has not been able to provide any evidence of this.’
Following the court ruling on Thursday, the cyclist was also ordered to pay 2,040 euros in court costs.
His lawyer, Phillippe Culot, declined to comment.
In the video, the five-year-old girl is seen walking by her mother’s side on the snow-covered path as the cyclist approaches them from behind.
Just as he rides alongside the girl, he extends his knee out, hitting the little girl and knocking her to the ground before continuing on his way unbothered.
Furious Mr Mpasa said he had chased after the man 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, the cyclist 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.’
The cyclist emerged from a bend in the snowy road before knocking into the young girl and sending her toppling into the snow
The local cycling association described the man’s behaviour as ‘unacceptable’, but the judge opted for lenient treatment, arguing that the man had no intention of harming the girl, the incident was minor, and he had already been criticised on social media.
The judge went on to say that the cyclist had already spent time in custody when he was arrested, and ruled he must pay the girl’s family a symbolic €1 in compensation for the incident.
However, the court decided the cyclist was free to go because he had incurred enough criticism on social media over the incident.
Almost a year after the incident, the cyclist went back to court to sue the girl’s father for defamation.
Mr Englebert said in response to the defamation suit at the time: ‘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.’
