A partially-sighted cyclist who crashed into a pensioner leaving him in intensive care has avoided jail after being convicted under an old law.

Colin Lown, 73, hit Derek Osborne in Cheam, South London as he was on his way home from the supermarket on June 25, 2022. The 88-year-old victim was left fighting for his life with multiple fractures and his eyelid hanging off.

Lown was handed a suspended sentence on Friday after being convicted of causing serious harm by reckless driving, telling reporters outside Croydon crown court he "just wants to forget about the incident". Lown pleaded guilty to causing bodily harm by wanton or furious driving earlier this year.

The nearly 200-year-old rarely-used charge, which predates cars having originally been created at a time of horse-drawn carriages, was brought by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), and is typically only brought in unusual cases where other driving offences don't apply. It's still used today in rare cases of bicycles hitting pedestrians.

Prosecutor Nicholas Wells told the court how Lown was heading to a recycling bin to drop off printer cartridges when he rode straight into Mr Osborne, who had been alert and "crossing the road safely" at the time. Doorbell camera footage shown in court of the collision showed Lown cycling within the 30mph speed limit, but apparently without any sight of Mr Osborne before he smashed into him.

Mr Wells then revealed Lown's driving licence had been revoked after a stroke in 2016 left him partially sighted, MyLondon reports. "He described himself in his interview as a blind spot between twelve-thirty and one-thirty in his head. And that is important because that's where Mr Osborne was," Mr Wells said.

Lown was thrown from his bike and suffered a bleed on the brain during the crash, later telling police he had "no recollection" of what happened. But the worst injuries were reserved for Mr Osborne who was knocked unconscious, then spent a week in intensive care and another month on the wards at St George's Hospital in Tooting.

"Before the collision I was totally independent and lived on my own and I felt sprightly despite being 88," Mr Osborne said in a victim impact statement, quoted by Mr Wells. "I now feel like an older man. This has aged me, I now use a stick because I sometimes stumble. They had to stitch up my eyelid because it fell down my cheek."

Mr Osborne, who has since moved to the coast to be cared for by a friend, suffered multiple fractures to his eye socket and ribs, damage to his ears which left him needing hearing aids, and a haemorrhage in his bladder, the court heard. "There are a lot of people worse off than me but I could have had severe brain damage," Mr Osborne added.

Defence barrister Abigail Penny said Lown was "terribly sorry" for the crash. "He did not appreciate the risk his impairment posed to other people crossing the road or standing on the pavement," Ms Penny said. She added her client had "impeccable" good character with a single speeding ticket over fifty years ago and no previous convictions. "This is a man who has lived a intently blameless life but is willing to do unpaid work in the community to right his wrong," Ms Penny said.

"It's apparent, and you also admitted, you just did not see him," Judge Gower KC said. "Clearly if you had not been cycling this would not have happened and you would not have been where you are now and Mr Osborne would not be in the state he is. You thought, and I can understand your thinking, but it turns out wrong and misguided, that you could cycle safely."

"I have no doubt you genuinely believed that you could ride a bicycle safely. Sadly it turned out that was misplaced. The consequences of cycling into Mr Osborne have been very severe. Fractured eye socket, broken ribs, damage to his bladder. He was in intensive care for a week and spent three further weeks in hospital."

"There is no suggestion in any sense you were feeling angry or cross with the person into which you ran," Judge Gower KC continued. "This case does not come anywhere near the custody threshold. While I feel bound by the guidelines, this case is very much at the bottom end of the range."

In 2017, courier Charlie Alliston was charged with the same offence and was sent to a Young Offenders Institution for 18 months after hitting and killing a pedestrian in East London while riding his brakeless fixed gear bicycle.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/partially-blind-cyclist-thought-could-31187762#