Kent e-bike rider Clifford Cage avoids prison for killing 91-year-old Jim Blackwood while riding on pavement
A man who killed a 91-year-old great-grandfather by hitting the pavement with an e-bike has avoided an immediate prison sentence.
Clifford Cage, of Rochester, Kent, was sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, at Maidstone Crown Court on Wednesday for the manslaughter of Jim Blackwood.
Mr Blackwood was on his way to work removing bins on City Way on July 6, 2023, when Cage hit him.
He was hospitalized 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 this manner had he not been shot. This led to a charge of manslaughter, in what the Crown Prosecution Service described as a “legal first”.
Sentencing Cage on Wednesday, Judge Julian Smith said Mr Blackwood had “suffered significantly” in his final months.
“There is no doubt [Cage] “You shouldn’t have gone down that road like that.”
After the sentencing on Wednesday, Cage and Mr. Blackwood’s daughter, Christine White, embraced in the courtroom.
Speaking outside the court, he said it was a historic decision with wider impact that showed cyclists could no longer endanger pedestrians “with impunity”.
“Everyone must understand that going off-roading is illegal and illegality will be punished,” he said.
The 68-year-old, who has been caring for his mother full-time since his father’s death, called on cyclists to “make our streets safer for everyone” by warning them not to ride on pavements or in pedestrian areas.
He said the introduction of e-bikes had made walking in public spaces “so dangerous it’s become a lottery”.
Maidstone Crown Court heard Cage told police in a voluntary interview in July that he had started cycling on the pavement along City Way, Rochester, after twice near-missing cars while driving on the road.
On the day of the crash, the 50-year-old driver said he “wasn’t acting crazy” and estimated he was going 12 mph.
He told officers he did not see Mr. Blackwood coming out from behind a bush and did not have time to stop.
The court heard the tree had become overgrown and Mr Blackwood’s family had previously complained about it.
The court heard Cage remained at the scene following the incident and called 999, expressing “genuine remorse”.
He told Miss White that he swept the pavement on City Way every Wednesday and offered to cut the bushes himself.
Cage initially denied manslaughter but later pleaded guilty in October 2025.
The court heard evidence from Jim Blackwood’s wife of 72 years, Hanni Blackwood, who said she always missed him and added: “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about him.”
He said Mr Blackwood, a former army man, served in Malaya and Northern Ireland but was “murdered on his front doorstep”.
Ms White described the “huge emotional impact” the incident had on her and said overall she “felt angry all the time”.
“It’s so painful to see my mother in so much pain, she really doesn’t want to be here without her partner of 72 years,” she said.
“I miss my father so much, I was a real daddy’s girl.”
Danny Moore KC, defending Cage, said the grandfather remained at the scene and “did his best to help” and was “an honest person”.
He said: “He knows that a moment of careless driving results in tragedy.
“The knowledge that his actions led to the death of another human being is something he will carry with him for the rest of his life.”
The judge also sentenced Cage to 15 days of rehabilitation activity and 180 hours of unpaid work.
The CPS believes the case is the first of its kind to secure a conviction for manslaughter in connection with cycling on the pavement.
Speaking outside court, district attorney Matt Beard said Cage’s e-bike was not powerful enough for laws governing traffic offenses such as death by dangerous driving to apply in this case.
Instead, the Victorian law, which came into force in 1861, had a loophole between wanton and rage driving, which gave judges the power to impose sentences of up to two years, or manslaughter, which carried a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
“Our view is, yes, in this case, it actually crossed that threshold to meet the public interest test to make sure we prosecuted manslaughter,” he said.
Mr. Beard said that in this case, Cage knew the area, had driven on this particular road in the past and had near-miss accidents, and chose instead to cycle on the pavement “to remove himself from a danger and effectively move that danger to someone else.”
He said: “So the takeaway from this is that cyclists, whether on an e-bike or a regular push bike, are aware of the risks to others. “This is such a tragic incident.
“Some people may say that this is just an ‘unfortunate accident’. It is not, it is an illegal act that was committed. This is not just an unfortunate accident, it is completely preventable by getting on the road.”
