A skip lorry driver from Willesden crushed a cyclist to death at a notorious junction after his mirrors were wrongly positioned, a court heard today.

Vincent Doyle, 44, Astley Avenue, failed to check the road properly before turning left into German postgraduate student Janina Gehlau at Ludgate Circus in the City of London, it is claimed.

The Old Bailey heard the cyclist would have been visible to the driver for between three and five seconds before he turned left in October 2014.

Ms Gehlau had reached the passenger door of the vehicle when the lorry knocked her over and drove over the middle of her body despite the screams of a pedestrian to get him to stop.

Prosecutor Alison Hunter said: “If Mr Doyle’s mirrors were correctly positioned on the lorry - which they weren’t and there’s no challenge to this - Ms Gehlau would have been visible.”

Ms Gehlau died three days later.

The Old Bailey heard that Doyle at overtaken Ms Gehlau just 200 metres from the traffic lights.

Prosecutor Alison Hunter said: “A person is driving carelessly if his driving is found by you to fall below the standard of a careful and competent driver - that in its simplest form is what we are look at.”

Doyle’s lorry was fitted with a sign reading ‘cyclists stay back’ and a loud speaker which made two beeps followed by the words ‘Stand clear, this vehicle is turning left’.

The recording would have been played throughout the 23 seconds Doyle’s lorry was held at the lights.

Crash scene investigators believe that Ms Gehlau was planning on travelling straight ahead towards Blackfriars at the junction.

Doyle denies causing death by careless driving.

The three-day trial continues.