A cyclist in Northern Ireland has been handed a suspended jail sentence under the “rarely used” offence of ‘furious driving’ after colliding with a woman walking her dog on a pavement, leaving her with severe injuries, including a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain.

Shane Coyle, 26, of Kingsmere Gardens in Derry, admitted the charge at Derry Crown Court this week. The incident took place on 14 August 2023 on the Belt Road in the Waterside area of the city.

The court heard that Coyle had been seen riding “extremely fast” downhill on the pavement before striking the pedestrian from behind, knocking her unconscious. She sustained a fractured skull, a blood clot on the brain, bleeding, and seven broken ribs. She was initially treated at Altnagelvin Hospital before being transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast for emergency surgery.

A passing motorist who witnessed the collision placed the woman in the recovery position and urged Coyle to call an ambulance. Both men remained at the scene until emergency services arrived.

> Cyclists who kill pedestrians could face life sentences under proposed new ‘dangerous cycling’ law

Judge Neil Rafferty KC said the case was “a significant warning” to those who ride bikes on pavements about “what harm they could cause without intending to do so.”

He added: “This is my first time in almost 36 years of criminal practice that I have encountered the offence of furious driving. This is an offence which is known about but which is rarely used.”

The court heard that Coyle remained at the scene, accepted responsibility and had “demonstrated remorse” and “victim empathy”, the BBC reports. The judge added: “I am satisfied there were no aggravating factors other than he was cycling too fast on a pavement.”

Starting from a nine-month term reduced for an early guilty plea, Judge Rafferty imposed a six-month sentence suspended for two years.

Coyle’s sentencing is the latest case in which prosecutors have turned to the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, a piece of Victorian legislation that makes it an offence to cause bodily harm by “wanton or furious driving” of a carriage — a provision occasionally applied to cyclists.

Cyclist in London with pedestrians in foreground
Cyclist in London with pedestrians in foreground (Image Credit: Simon MacMichael)

In July 2024, Oxford University lecturer Edward Bressan was cleared by a jury after being accused under the same law of causing the death of 81-year-old Polly Friedhoff on a towpath in Oxford.

Bressan had estimated he was travelling at “probably 3mph” when he rang his bell and attempted to pass two women walking side by side, before colliding and knocking Mrs Friedhoff to the ground. She died in the hospital 12 days later. A witness said he believed Mrs Friedhoff lost her balance rather than being struck directly.

The jury returned a unanimous not guilty verdict, though the case reignited debate over whether the UK should update its laws. Her sons, both cyclists themselves, argued that prosecutions should only come alongside safe cycling infrastructure, while her brother criticised the use of a 19th-century law written for horse-drawn carts.

> Cyclist not guilty of causing pedestrian’s death by “wanton or furious driving” after trial over “3mph” towpath collision

A similar debate had followed the conviction of Norfolk rider David Tilley in 2020. Tilley admitted causing bodily harm by wanton or furious driving after he rode the wrong way down a one-way street and struck 80-year-old Sally Coutya, who later died. He was sentenced to nine months in jail, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to carry out unpaid work.

That case itself came in the shadow of the 2017 conviction of London courier Charlie Alliston, who was jailed for 18 months after colliding with Kim Briggs while riding a bike with no front brakes. Alliston’s trial also shone a national spotlight on the use of the 1861 Act against cyclists, with Briggs’ widower Matthew campaigning for modern “dangerous cycling” offences to be introduced.

More recently, in September 2024, drunk cyclist Carwyn Thomas pleaded guilty to two counts of causing bodily harm by wanton or furious driving after ploughing into two women on a pavement in Nantwich, Cheshire, leaving one unconscious with broken teeth and an injury that later required the amputation of a finger. He received a 14-month sentence, suspended for two years.

His case was used by lawyer Nick Freeman, known as “Mr Loophole,” to argue for tougher cycling legislation and the introduction of mandatory bicycle number plates.

TalkTV segment follows sentencing of drunk cyclist for injuring pedestrian
TalkTV segment follows sentencing of drunk cyclist for injuring pedestrian (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

> Suspended sentence for drunk cyclist who knocked pedestrian unconscious, as Mr Loophole uses case to call for new laws and bicycle number plates

In April this year, the Department for Transport confirmed it was seeking to replace the 1861 offence with new criminal offences for cyclists under the government’s Crime and Policing Bill. The proposed legislation would allow life sentences for causing death by dangerous cycling, up to five years for causing serious injury, and lesser terms for causing death or serious injury by careless or inconsiderate cycling.

Transport secretary Heidi Alexander said the proposals would “update legislation that is over 160 years old,” while Matthew Briggs, who has long campaigned for such reforms, welcomed the move as “a victory for all the families who have worked tirelessly through their unbearable tragedies to have these laws changed.”

Critics, however, including former Olympic champion and Active Travel Commissioner Chris Boardman, argued the focus is misplaced. “This is such a tiny minority. More people are killed by lightning, or cows,” he said last year. “And that same thing [cycling] is joyous. It’s good for society.

“And we put the focus on this minuscule, negative thing. Absolutely, everybody should obey the laws of the road. But is this really the best use of our time to be talking about this now?”