Bryan survived murder bid only to die in cycle collision

A CYCLIST killed in a crash with a taxi had previously survived a murder bid, it emerged today.

A CYCLIST killed in a crash with a taxi had previously survived a murder bid, it emerged today.

Father-of-five Bryan Simons, 40, was killed in the accident on Corstorphine Road this week, just days after watching a woman who attempted to murder him being jailed for five years.

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Mr Simons, of Saughton Park, was in court when Nikita Thompson, 26, who repeatedly stabbed him and punctured his lung in an apparent row over a stolen purse, was jailed at the High Court in Glasgow.

Her co-accused Wayne Alexander was convicted of assaulting Mr Simons’ friend David Hoggan to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement during the attack at a flat in Dalry Road in May last year.

Today, Mr Simons’ ex-partner of eight and a half years, Marie Brodie, 37, told the Evening News she had been aware of the court case but insisted that he was not the sort of person to be too worried about it.

She said: “He wasn’t the type of fella to let something like that shake him up. Bryan never let life get him down, he enjoyed it to the full.”

The couple, who lived together at West Pilton Park, broke up over a year ago and she now lives in Kent with their seven-year-old son and another child from a previous relationship.

She only learned of Mr Simons’ death in a phone call from a friend on Monday.

She said: “I thought they were kidding me on. Straight away I rang the police helpline and couldn’t believe it when they confirmed it was him. I still can’t believe it to be honest.

“He’ll be terribly missed by all his kids and myself, my youngest son is devastated by the news. We may not have spoken in almost a year but we did have some good memories from our time together.”

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Mr Simons is the fourth cyclist to die on the Capital’s roads in a year and his death has led Scotland’s Transport Minister Keith Brown to pledge action to improve road safety in the city.

Monday’s accident happened just two months after the death of Andrew McNicoll, who was killed on Lanark Road. Last April, Craig Newton, 32, from Musselburgh, died after being hit by a bin lorry outside Broughton Primary School, and Audrey Fyfe, 75, died after a collision with a car in Portobello Road last August.

Ms Brodie added: “Bryan was always out and about on his bike so if something positive can come from his death to improve the safety of cyclists then that would be great.”