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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.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
The woman was struck from behind and sustained a fractured skull, bleeding on the brain and seven broken ribs. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
At Londonderry Crown Court on Wednesday, Judge Neil Rafferty KC suspended the six-month jail sentence for two years.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
He gave first aid while urging Coyle to call for an ambulance and both men remained at the scene until emergency services arrived.<\/p>\n
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”.<\/p>\n
“This is my first time in almost 36 years of criminal practice that I have encountered the offence of furious driving,” the judge said. <\/p>\n
“This is an offence which is known about but which is rarely used.”<\/p>\n
The judge said it was noted that the defendant remained at the scene, accepted responsibility and had “demonstrated remorse” and “victim empathy”.<\/p>\n
“I am satisfied there were no aggravating factors other than he was cycling too fast on a pavement,” he said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n