The campaign in the name of tragic Jack Ryan has launched a petition demanding that the Government changes existing bail laws to stop serious offenders escaping justice.

The Justice for Jack Ryan petition on the Gov website gathered more than 1,000 signatures in its first 24 hours and currently stands at 1,900. Under the Gov petitions process, 10,000 signatures require a formal response from Government and 100,000 triggers a parliamentary debate.

The campaign is being led by Jack’s family in partnership with The Chelsea Citizen and is calling on the Justice Department to close a legal loophole that allowed the man convicted of causing Jack’s death to leave the UK before standing trial.

 

 

“Something is not right in the legal system and it urgently needs to be fixed,” said Jack’s sister Ciara, 32, who started the petition. “The man who killed my brother was simply free to get on a plane, avoid justice, and start a new life. How can that be right?

“The current bail laws are feeble and urgently need to be strengthened. We want to make sure that no other family goes through what we have experienced with the justice system.”

Marketing manager Jack, then 29, was out jogging when he was killed on Battersea Bridge in Chelsea on 13th January 2021. As he crossed the bridge, he was hit by a black Range Rover driven at speed by Rashid Ali, a Pakistani national who was living in Britain on a student visa. 

 

Prosecutors later proved that Ali, then 30, had accelerated through an amber traffic light signal on Beaufort Street before hitting Jack at around 40mph in a 20mph zone.  Due to the lack of bail restrictions placed on Ali after he was charged with causing death by dangerous driving, he absconded to Pakistan whilst awaiting trial.

 

 

Ali was convicted in his absence at the Old Bailey in September 2024 and sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison. He has never served a day of that sentence and remains in Pakistan, where it is believed he has since got married and enjoys holidays abroad. He may even have returned to the UK at some point since he absconded.

The Justice For Jack Ryan petition wants ministers to reform the Bail Act to make it mandatory that anyone facing serious criminal charges must automatically surrender their passport. Currently, such a bail condition must be independently enforced at a later date by a court, on a case-by-case basis.

Campaigners are also preparing to lobby the Government of Pakistan to extradite Ali so he returns to serve his sentence. “This is not about personal retribution, it is about justice,” added Ciara Ryan. 

“Rashid Ali did not set out to kill someone that night – we accept and understand that – but his actions and choices took Jack’s life. We have all been devastated by what happened and Ali must take responsibility. He cannot hide forever. We appeal to him show our family respect and do the right thing and come back to the UK. If not, we will seek his extradition.”

 

Rob McGibbon, the editor of The Chelsea Citizen said: “The existing bail system is open to failure because it rests on a magistrate to make the decision.  

“Often, clear red flags of flight risk are ignored by busy courts, or argued away by clever barristers. This flaw in the system is self-evident in the case of Rashid Ali. How can anyone who is facing a long prison term – like he was – be totally free to travel, on the promise that they will come back to face trial? It makes no sense. The law needs to be amended.”

Jack’s devastated parents, Teresa and Noel Ryan are supporting the campaign. Also on board is Jack’s partner Liz Austin. The couple were hoping to get married and had been planning a family via IVF in the months before his death. Liz, who now lives back in her native Australia, gave birth to their daughter within a year of Jack’s death.

Justice For Jack Ryan builds on a road safety campaign launched by Rob McGibbon, who witnessed the immediate aftermath of the accident. As a local resident, he was aware of long-held concerns about safety at that notoriously dangerous junction. So shocked by the horror that night, he decided to seek change. 

McGibbon’s subsequent petition called for a pedestrian crossing at the point where Jack was hit. It drew 26,000 signatures and widespread publicity and, within a year, Transport for London installed a Green Man crossing there. Since then, three others have been placed at the arms of the junction with Cheyne Walk.  

For media enquiries about Justice For Jack Ryan, contact Rob McGibbon via The Chelsea Citizen or email justiceforjackryan@gmail.com

Petition: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/770818