A Romanian migrant has put a woman in hospital after hitting her with his bicycle while he was banned from driving.
Emanuel Stefanovich, 23, of Warrington, Cheshire, ploughed into the pedestrian, 27, from behind as she walked through the town’s centre, at 3pm on April 5.
The full-time cleaner had been banned from driving for 12 months for riding a motorbike without a licence or insurance – but he could still legally use a pedal cycle.
CCTV showed him weaving in and out of shoppers on Horsemarket Street, a busy pedestrianised area, before he smashed into the woman’s back and ‘sent her flying’.
He stayed at the scene, looking on as members of the public rushed to assist her until police and paramedics arrived.
The unnamed woman was left ‘disorientated’ after falling on her front and taken to hospital for head and back pain, before being given painkillers and discharged.
Stefanovich said when questioned he had been ‘in a rush’ after receiving a phone call to say his mother, who has cancer, had been taken to hospital.
He has now been fined £215 after admitting dangerous cycling at Warrington Magistrates’ Court, when the maximum fine for this offence is £2,500.
The cyclist was also ordered to pay £171 in costs plus a victim surcharge.
Stefanovich, who has been in the UK since 2017, declined to comment after the case.
It came despite Government promises of a court crackdown on dangerous cycling.
Three pedestrians a year have lost their lives to such collisions in Britain over the last ten years, according to Government figures.
Last year, the then-Conservative government tried to impose tough new laws against causing death and serious injury by dangerous cycling.
But the debate was cancelled due to last year’s general election.
The issue was only re-visited last month when the Labour Government vowed to introduce similar laws under the Crime and Policing Bill which could result in killer cyclists being jailed for life.
The new laws are still not yet in force.
Stefanovich has no previous convictions – but was handed a driving ban and fined £1,332 on April 22 last year under the much-criticised secretive Single Justice Procedure (SJP).
The process, introduced in 2015 for minor crimes, sees the accused sent a letter noting the date range in which a magistrate will deal with their case.
Instead of an automatic hearing, they are told to enter pleas and whether they want a hearing or not by post.
Under this process, Stefanovich’s case was held in his absence, after he was caught riding a motorbike without insurance and after his Compulsory Basic Training certificate had expired.
Prosecutor Angela Blackmore said: ‘The defendant essentially rode a cycle dangerously down a densely populated road in Warrington town centre.’
Noting Stefanovich had no previous convictions, she continued: ‘There are no sentencing guidelines in the relation to this type of offence.
‘It is a summary only matter [a less serious offence, tried in a magistrates’ court].’
The lawyer added: ‘The defendant does not leave the scene but it should be pointed out he did not offer any assistance to this lady.
‘Others do that. He appeared to run into the woman for no apparent reason.’
CCTV shows Stefanovich pulling on to the street very quickly, before slowing to move around pedestrians, including a man with a child in a pushchair.
The victim is seen walking further down the road from behind.
When he hits her, he immediately stops, gets off his bike and stays at the scene.
Stefanovich’s lawyer Krystyna Doroszkiewicz also noted his lack of previous convictions or cautions: ‘There have not been any incidents with police before.’
She explained her client had been doing some shopping in the town centre when he received the call about his mother.
‘In a split second he looked somewhere and then the lady was in his view. That is when the accident happened. He is remorseful for it,’ the lawyer continued.
‘He understands that is not the way to cycle but it was an urgency to get to his mother after receiving the phone call.
‘He did not try to run away. He did not help but that is not because he did not want to help.
‘It all happened in such a quick time period. It was a shock. More than anything it was a shock.’
Miss Dorosziewcz said her client is not first aid-trained so did not help tend to the woman as he was ‘more worried about doing more harm to her than doing good’.
She added: ‘He did stay and give his details,’ before providing the further context her client is on a salary of £1,400 per month.
Four pedestrians died and 185 were seriously injured in 2023 after being hit by a cyclist, according to Government figures.
Cyclists can currently be prosecuted for both dangerous and careless or inconsiderate cycling.
These offences are respectively considered to be just as severe as both dangerous and careless or inconsiderate driving.
The maximum penalty for dangerous cycling is currently a £2,500 fine – while careless cyclists can be ordered to pay at most £1,000.
Cyclists can also be charged with ‘wanton and furious driving’ if they cause bodily harm, with the maximum penalty for this a two-year prison sentence.
This is under a piece of 19th-century legislation, the Offences Against The Person Act 1861.
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: ‘Dangerous cycling is completely unacceptable, and the safety of our roads is a key priority for this Government.
‘That’s why the Government is proposing new offences and penalties for dangerous cycling, updating legislation that is over 160 years old, to ensure that the tiny minority who recklessly disregard others face the full force of the law.’
