A cyclist who rode into a pedestrian in Northern Ireland has been given a suspended sentence after being convicted for the rarely used offence of ‘furious driving’.
Shane Coyle, 26, of Kingsmere Gardens, Derry, was sentenced on Wednesday for seriously injuring a dog-walker in the city last August.
“This is my first time in almost 36 years of criminal practice that I have encountered the offence of furious driving,” he said, before handing Coyle a suspended six-month jail sentence on account of his “remorse” and “victim empathy”.
“I am satisfied there were no aggravating factors other than he was cycling too fast on a pavement,” Judge Rafferty said of Coyle last Wednesday, concluding that the case serve as a “significant warning” for cyclists who choose to ride on pavements and the “harm they could cause without intending to do so”.
