Cyclist who killed retired teacher, 79, in hit and run is jailed for just one year
A HIT-and-run cyclist who fatally injured a retired teacher was jailed for 12 months yesterday.
Stewart McGinn, 29, sped around a corner and hit Jane Stone, 79, as she was walking home with a friend.
The elderly church-goer was ‘poleaxed’ by the mountain bike and suffered a fractured skull when she hit the ground.
Cardiff Crown Court heard that her friend, Janet Bromley, shouted after McGinn: ‘I’m on my own, please help me,’ but he rode off regardless. Mrs Stone, a ‘healthy and active’ pensioner who had recently done a charity abseil, was taken to hospital but died four days later. McGinn rode to his mother-inlaw’s house and only handed himself in ten days later, when footage of his bicycle appeared online.
McGinn then lied to officers, claiming that he had helped Mrs Stone to her feet and checked if she was okay.
There is no death by dangerous driving charge for cyclists, so McGinn was charged with – and admitted – causing bodily harm by ‘wanton or furious driving while being in charge of a bicycle’, with a maximum sentence of just two years. The maximum sentence for motorists is 14 years.
Yesterday Judge Tracey lloyd-Clarke told McGinn: ‘It was reckless behaviour. You must have heard Mrs Stone’s head strike the floor – that was a cowardly thing to do.’
Prosecutor James Wilson said McGinn had only one working brake and no lights when he struck Mrs Stone close to her home in Monmouth, South Wales, around 9.30pm on June 7 last year.
Mrs Bromley said: ‘her feet were lifted off the ground, it caused her head to poleaxe to the ground. I heard an almighty crack as her head struck the pavement.’
The court heard that McGinn, also of Monmouth, has needed counselling since. he was also banned from driving for 30 months and his bicycle, which he has not used again, was confiscated.