A Belgian cyclist who acquired prominence after a video showed him kneeing a small girl and knocking her over while cycling past her has won a defamation lawsuit against the child’s father for publishing the film online. The case was contentious since the cyclist gained recognition after the video was posted online. After he successfully argued that he should be compensated for his defamation, the court is going to make a decision in April over how much money he should receive. At first, he asked for around 4,500 Euros, which is the price of his motorcycle.
Neia, who was five years old at the time, was walking with her family in a natural reserve in Baraque Michel, which is located in the province of Liege, when she was struck by a bike. The event took place on Christmas Day in the year 2020. In the footage that was shot by the kid’s father, Patrick Mpasa, the biker can be seen colliding with the toddler, which causes the youngster to tumble to the ground.
Following his acts, the cyclist was first hauled to court in Verviers for his conduct; however, the public outcry on social media resulted in the judge issuing a suspended sentence for the rider. The court ordered him to give the family of the girl a symbolic amount of compensation equal to one euro.
A little over a year and a half later, the rider went back to court and this time filed a defamation lawsuit against the girl’s father. He said that the negative attention the film got made him feel intimidated by the public, to the point that he was frightened to leave his own house because of it because of the public’s reaction to the video.
The attorney for Patrick Mpasa maintained that his clients had the legal right to upload the film to the internet and questioned whether or not their actions had gone too far in terms of their freedom of speech. However, the court decided against Mpasa, leaving open the prospect that he could be required to make restitution payments.
The biker had justified himself in the past by claiming that the accident occurred when he was attempting to keep his balance and prevent a fall. He confessed that it was possible that he had hit the girl, but he did not immediately detect that she had fallen.
The court gave the cyclist a suspended sentence and ordered that a symbolic compensation of one euro be provided to the family of the child who was hit by the bike. This decision was made despite objections from the local bicycle group and the judge’s recognition that the rider had no intention of injuring the kid.