Man who joked on Twitter about hitting cyclist and speeding off is FIRED from his job
A MAN who joked on Twitter about hitting a cyclist with his car and driving off has been FIRED from his job.
Rayhan Qadar, from Eastville, Bristol, posted at around 8.30 yesterday morning: "Think I just hit a cyclist. But I'm late for work so had to drive off lol"
However, despite apologising for making the "bad joke" his bosses at Bristol financial firm Hargreaves Lansdown SACKED the 21-year-old.
A spokesman for the company said: "One of our employees has failed to conduct themselves to the standards we expect of our staff.
"We find these online comments totally unacceptable.
"Upon becoming aware of this issue we have terminated this person's employment with immediate effect."
The news comes after Mr Qadar, who wrote as Twitter user 'Ray Pew', had his message retweeted 152 times.
Avon & Somerset Police had earlier revealed they were probing the tweet.
The force's official Twitter account wrote: "We are aware of a tweet regarding a collision between a car and a bike. We are looking into this now. Any witnesses call 101."
Mr Qadar was criticised by pro-cycling activists, who swore at him and abused him online.
One, Annabel Staff, said: "You ignorant p***k…Hopefully you won't have a job to get to by the end of the day."
Even Greater Manchester Police decided to get involved, despite being more than 150 miles away from where any offence would have occurred.
The GMP tweeted to the 'Ray Pew' account: "If you hit a cyclist, you are obliged to stop. I suggest you call 101 as soon as possible, I will forward the details on."
“I am 100 per cent sorry. It was a joke gone bad.
Cardiff University graduate Mr Qadar apologised for his post, tweeting: "My previous tweet about the cyclist was obviously not true. I did not hit cyclist. Not today. Not ever. A bad joke on my part it seems."
He added to the Bristol Post: "“I put my phone on silent during work and only saw the reaction when my sister told me.
“I am 100 per cent sorry. It was a joke gone bad. I didn’t think that would happen. I understand now that I can’t say things like that.
“If I did have an accident I would not drive away.”
Mr Qadar has since changed his twitter name and made his account private.
