Rochester e-bike collision results in manslaughter sentence

Clifford Cage, who hit 91-year-old James Blackwood on a pavement in Rochester, has received a suspended prison sentence for manslaughter in a legal first. 

An e-bike cyclist who killed an elderly man while riding on a pavement has been sentenced to 15 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, for manslaughter – thought to be the first case of its kind in the country.

Cage was riding an e-bike along City Way in Rochester on 6th July 2023 when he struck a 91-year-old James Blackwood, who was crossing the pavement back to his house after putting out the rubbish.

Mr Blackwood was taken to hospital with stomach pains and scans later revealed a small bleed on his brain and liver damage. His condition worsened and he sadly died on 13th October 2023.

Following his death, medical examinations found multiple traumas, including a brain injury, consistent with the time of the collision. 

On 28th October 2025, Cage pleaded guilty to manslaughter at Maidstone Crown Court. 

Joe Pullen, senior crown prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service, said: ‘This case, which is a legal first, tragically highlights how exceptionally dangerous it can be to cycle on the pavement and the reason it is illegal.

‘James Blackwood went from being fully mobile before the collision to being bed bound and immobile afterwards, eventually resulting in his death. 

‘Clifford Cage has made it clear that he never intended to cause the victim any harm, but the risk he took in cycling on an e-bike on the pavement should have been obvious to him.

‘Instead, Cage admitted he had never thought about the danger he could pose to others. It was that simple lack of thought that led to James’ death.’

To give context into the dangers of e-bikes, in 2025 Royal London Hospital reported 150 serious injury cases in just six months. What’s more, separate findings show incidents involving e-scooters and e-bikes rose to 11,266 in 2023/24, up from 10,168 the previous year. 

News of the sentencing comes as police offers in Nottingham have started using new technology to seize illegal e-bikes and e-scooters. Currently, rules state that electric bikes must cut out when they read 15.5mph to be legally ridden in public. 

Image: G-FORCE Bike/UnSplash 

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