A cyclist has been given a six-month suspended sentence for “furious driving” after seriously injuring a pedestrian while riding his bicycle on a footpath.

Shane Coyle, 26, of Kingsmere Gardens, in Londonderry, admitted what the judge described as “a rarely used offence”, after hitting with a woman as she walked her dog along the Belt Road area of Derry last August.

The woman was struck from behind and sustained a fractured skull, bleeding on the brain and seven broken ribs.

She was treated at Altnagelvin Hospital before being transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, where a CT scan revealed a blood clot on her brain.

At Londonderry Crown Court on Wednesday, Judge Neil Rafferty KC suspended the six-month jail sentence for two years.

The court was told that a passing motorist, who had seen Coyle cycling at speed shortly before the crash, stopped to help after witnessing the woman collapse to the ground.

He gave first aid while urging Coyle to call for an ambulance and both men remained at the scene until emergency services arrived.

Judge Rafferty described the case as “a significant warning” for all of those who ride bicycles on pavements as “to what harm they could cause without intending to do so”.

“This is my first time in almost 36 years of criminal practice that I have encountered the offence of furious driving,” the judge said.

“This is an offence which is known about but which is rarely used.”

The judge said it was noted that the defendant remained at the scene, accepted responsibility and had “demonstrated remorse” and “victim empathy”.

“I am satisfied there were no aggravating factors other than he was cycling too fast on a pavement,” he said.