Cyclist suffered severe head injury crashing into rubbish - as fly-tipper jailed

A fly-tipping lorry driver has been jailed for 16 months after a cyclist sustained a severe head injury after hitting rubbish the driver had dumped.

Craig Frewin, 36, left vegetation and parts of a garden shed - including a piece of asbestos with a nail in it, which punctured the man's wheel - strewn across most of the road.

Essex Police said the man, aged in his 60s and not wearing a helmet, came off his bike in a lane in Brentwood in September 2024. He was airlifted to hospital in a life-threatening condition.

Officers identified Frewin after using CCTV and dashcam footage to track a tipper lorry.

They followed its route from Upminster to Brentwood and contacted the hire company, which led to identifying the driver, Essex Police said.

Officers were able to match the fly-tipped rubbish to that caught on camera in the back of the tipper.

The vehicle's telematics showed the driver stopped at the site for less than 10 minutes while the driver offloaded garden vegetation and a shed just a few hours prior to the collision.

The 36-year-old pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court to causing danger to road users.

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Detective Constable Alan Marks, who led the investigation, said: "Fly-tipping isn't just an eyesore - it can be a lethal hazard.

"In this case, rubbish dumped across a country lane caused a cyclist to come off his bike and suffer a devastating head injury, leaving him with no recollection of what happened and months of hospital treatment."

The rubbish was removed by a specialist asbestos disposal company, costing the local council £1,660.

The victim's family said: "The thorough and meticulous investigation, especially the efforts of the officer leading the case, has brought us a sense of justice and reassurance that the person responsible has been held to account."

(c) Sky News 2026: Cyclist suffered severe head injury crashing into rubbish - as fly-tipper jailed