A 20-year-old man who had never held a driving licence and inhaled laughing gas while behind the wheel has been sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for killing an 81-year-old cyclist in South Yorkshire earlier this year.
Cain Byrne was driving a Volkswagen Golf at speeds believed to be up to 80mph — significantly over the 50mph limit — when he jumped a red light and hit Graham Slinn, who was walking his bike across a pedestrian crossing on the A57 near Todwick on 4 April.
Byrne, from Chesterfield, Derbyshire, made no attempt to stop and was seen inhaling nitrous oxide both before and after the collision, with dashcam footage showing his tyres smoking as he sped away in an apparent attempt to control the vehicle. Slinn was pronounced dead at the scene despite the efforts of members of the public who rushed to help.
Byrne fled and later burned out the vehicle in Derbyshire in an attempt to cover his tracks. Police later revealed that the car was on cloned registration plates and that Byrne was driving without a licence or insurance.
South Yorkshire Police described his behaviour as “dangerous, selfish and cowardly,” with Chief Inspector Tom Woodward praising the Serious Collisions Unit and Major Crime Unit for tracking Byrne down, piecing together CCTV footage, and ensuring “he could never harm anyone in our communities again.”
Byrne was re-arrested in Derbyshire on 12 April and brought back into custody, where he answered “no comment” throughout multiple interviews, even when officers read aloud the family’s tribute to Slinn. He eventually pleaded guilty in May.
CI Woodward said: “Our thoughts remain with Graham’s family and friends, and I hope today’s sentencing brings them some further closure knowing Byrne will now face a lengthy time in prison.”
Slinn, a retired builder who helped care for adults with learning disabilities, was described by his family as a “kind to his core” husband, father, grandfather, and friend. He was weeks away from celebrating his 60th wedding anniversary with his wife Jaqueline. The couple had met through a shared love for cycling.
Slinn’s daughter Nicola, and son Victor said that their father rode his bike several times a week. In fact, cycling was his “lifelong passion and a shared family activity”, and that he “always took safety incredibly seriously”.
“Despite taking every possible precaution to stay safe — dismounting at the end of the cycle path, waiting for the lights to change to green for pedestrians, and wheeling his bike across the pedestrian crossing — on the day he died, he was hit at speed by a car driven by someone who just kept going, as if our dad wasn’t even there, as if he was nothing,” Slinn’s children said in a statement.
“But he was there. He was everything to us. He was our dad, our mum’s husband of 60 years, a granddad to two teenage girls, and a friend to so many.”
At Sheffield Crown Court on Monday, Byrne was sentenced to 11 years and six months’ detention in a young offender institution, with an extended licence period of five years. He was also banned from driving for 17 years and eight months.
The court heard Byrne had an “astonishing and appalling” record of previous offending with 27 convictions, including dangerous driving, despite having never held a driving licence.
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Sentencing him, Judge Richardson KC told Byrne he was a “dangerous offender” with ingrained criminal behaviour and said the public must be protected from him. The judge described inhaling nitrous oxide while driving as an “exceptionally dangerous act” and told Byrne that Slinn “died of injuries inflicted by your truly appalling driving.”
Byrne admitted causing death by dangerous driving and other offences at a previous hearing, with his barrister telling the court that he drove off because he believed he had only hit another vehicle with his wing mirror.
Slinn’s family, in a statement issued through Thompsons Solicitors, said losing him was a “shock” — made doubly cruel by knowing his death was “100 per cent avoidable.”
Byrne’s case comes amid growing concern about fatal collisions involving dangerous and drug-impaired drivers — including those inhaling nitrous oxide behind the wheel. Last year, Harry Lock was sentenced to three years in prison after killing 53-year-old healthcare assistant Maria Perez-Gonzalez in Exeter when he ran a red light while inhaling laughing gas from behind the wheel of his BMW.
Lock ignored pleas from his passenger to stop, hit Perez-Gonzalez as she crossed with her bike, and initially lied to police by claiming the traffic light had been green. CCTV later proved otherwise, and Devon and Cornwall Police publicly criticised what they called a “perverse” sentence that left the family distraught and sparked calls for an appeal.
In November, Anya Foster was jailed for six years and eight months after hitting and killing cyclist David Burrows in Merseyside while speeding, five times over the cocaine limit, with cannabis also in her system.
Foster fled the scene, claimed Burrows had declined her offer to call an ambulance, and later told police she had smoked cannabis to calm her nerves after the crash. A judge condemned her for weaving a “web of lies” and showing a “callous disregard for his life.”
Cyclists have also reported multiple cases of drivers openly using nitrous oxide on the roads. Two years ago, a rider in Coventry filmed a motorist inhaling gas while using a phone behind the wheel, with a canister clearly visible on the passenger seat.
Although driving under the influence of nitrous oxide is illegal, enforcement is seen as patchy — in part because the substance leaves the body quickly and can be hard to detect in tests.
Campaigners including CyclingMikey have called for tougher laws to allow prosecution based on possession alone, warning that current enforcement fails to protect vulnerable road users. The Netherlands banned possession of nitrous oxide entirely after recording 63 fatal collisions involving its use between 2018 and 2021.
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