A man who killed a 91-year-old great-grandfather by striking him with an e-bike on the pavement has avoided immediate imprisonment.
Clifford Cage, of Rochester, Kent, was handed a 15-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, at Maidstone Crown Court on Wednesday for the manslaughter of Jim Blackwood.
Mr Blackwood was taking out his bins on City Way on 6 July 2023 when he was struck by Cage, who was riding to work.
He was hospitalised, but his health deteriorated and he died three months later on 13 October.
It was accepted that, despite Mr Blackwood's advanced age and frailty, he would not have died in the manner he did had he not been hit. This led to the manslaughter charge, in what the Crown Prosecution Service described as a "legal first".
Sentencing Cage on Wednesday, Judge Julian Smith said that Mr Blackwood “suffered significantly” in his final months.
“No doubt [Cage] should not have been riding on that path in that way.”
Following the sentencing on Wednesday, Cage and Mr Blackwood’s daughter, Christine White, hugged in the courtroom.
Speaking outside court, she said it was a historic judgment which has a wider impact that cyclists can no longer endanger pedestrians “with impunity”.
“Everyone has to realise that it is illegal to go off-road, and that illegality will be punished,” she said.
The 68-year-old, who is now caring for her mother full-time since her father’s death, urged cyclists to “make our streets safer for everyone”, warning them not to ride on the pavements or pedestrian areas.
She said the introduction of e-bikes has made walking in public spaces “dangerous to the point of becoming a lottery”.
Maidstone Crown Court heard how Cage told police in a voluntary interview in July that he began cycling on the pavement along City Way, Rochester, after two near misses with cars when he was riding on the road.
On the day of the crash, the 50-year-old said he was not “peddling mad” and estimated he was going around 12mph.
He told officers that he did not see Mr Blackwood, who stepped out from behind a bush, and he had no time to stop.
The court heard that the tree was overgrown and Mr Blackwood’s family had complained about it on an earlier date.
Following the incident, Cage stayed at the scene and called 999, and did “express genuine remorse”, the court heard.
He told Ms White that he sweeps the pavement at City Way every Wednesday and offered to trim the bush back himself.
Cage initially denied manslaughter but later pleaded guilty in October 2025.
The court heard a statement from Jim Blackwood’s wife of 72 years, Hanni Blackwood, who said she misses him all the time, adding: “There’s not a day I don’t think of him.”
She said as a former Army man, Mr Blackwood had served in Malaya and Northern Ireland “but was killed outside his front door”.
Ms White told of the “huge emotional toll” the incident has had on her and said she generally “feels angry all the time”.
“It’s painful to see mum suffering so much, she really doesn’t want to be here without her partner of 72 years,” she said.
“I miss dad terribly, I was a real daddy’s girl.”
Defending Cage, Danny Moore KC said that the grandfather stayed at the scene and “did what he could to help” and that “he’s a decent human being”.
He said: “He knows a moment of careless driving has resulted in tragedy.
“The knowledge his actions have caused the death of another human being is something he will carry with him for the rest of his life.”
The judge also ordered for Cage to carry out 15 days of rehabilitative activity requirement and 180 hours of unpaid work.
The CPS believes that the case is the first of its kind for a conviction of manslaughter connected to cycling on the pavement.
Speaking outside court, district crown prosecutor Matt Beard said that Cage’s e-bike was not powerful enough for laws for driving offences, such as death by dangerous driving, to apply in this case.
Instead there was a gap between the lesser offence of the Victorian law from 1861 of wanton and furious driving, which offered sentencing powers for judges up to two years, or manslaughter which holds a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
“Our view was that yes, in this case, it really did meet that threshold to pass the public interest test to make sure that we do charge manslaughter,” he said.
Mr Beard said in this case that Cage knew the area, he had ridden on that particular road in the past and had near misses, and so chose to cycle on the pavement instead, “to take himself away from one danger and effectively move that danger to somebody else”.
He said: “So the takeaway from that is that cyclists, whether you’re on an e-bike or on a normal push bike, to be aware of the risks of others. This is a very tragic incident.
“Some people might just say … it’s just an ‘unfortunate accident’. It’s not, it’s an illegal act that had been carried out. It’s not just an unfortunate accident, (it was) wholly avoidable by going on the road.”
