Olympian crash driver convicted

Emma Davies-Jones went on to win a Commonwealth bronze medal

A hit-and-run driver who knocked an Olympic cyclist off her bicycle has been convicted of motoring offences.

Emma Davies-Jones, who represented Great Britain at the 2004 Athens games, was knocked off her bike in a cycle lane in Manchester in October 2005.

She fell on to the road and fractured a bone in her lower spine.

Stephen Craig, 47, of Acre Street, Denton, was convicted of driving without due care, failing to stop and failing to report an accident.

Manchester magistrates heard that Craig made no effort to stop, despite being followed by a taxi which sounded its horn and flashed its headlights.

Bronze medal

He was later arrested but insisted he was not aware of the collision as he had been driving with music playing. He will be sentenced on 6 December.

Miss Davies-Jones was cycling from her home in Alsager, Cheshire, to the National Cycling Centre in Manchester when the accident happened, on Gorton Road.

She recovered from the injury and won a bronze medal in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in March this year.

Pc Seamus Toal, of Greater Manchester Police, said Miss Davies-Jones had shown "sheer determination" in her recovery.