Courtesy thisislondon.co.uk

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The parents of a teenager killed by a speeding cyclist called for a change in the law after he walked away from court with just a £2,200 fine.

Jason Howard was convicted of dangerous cycling for killing Rhiannon Bennett as she walked to a shop with friends.

Howard, 36, sped towards Rhiannon at more than 23mph, shouting at her to get out of the way.

With no time to react, the 17-year-old horse management student was hit with the full force of the £4,750 custom-built bicycle, suffering fatal injuries as she hit her head on the pavement.

The maximum sentence the judge could have imposed yesterday was a fine of £2,500. But her parents, Mick and Diana Bennett, want the law changed so that dangerous cycling lines up with causing death by dangerous driving. The current maximum for this crime is a 14-year prison sentence.
Mr Bennett, 52, a roofer from Finmere in Buckinghamshire, said: 'If anything positive can come out of this awful situation, it would be a change in the law.

'This man has ruined our lives. He headed straight at our beautiful daughter and she stood no chance. He cut her down in the prime of her life and all he gets is a fine. We will still have the agony of watching him cycle around town on that flash bike of his.

'He should have got an eight to ten year prison sentence.'
Mrs Bennett, 46, a home carer, added: 'Our life has been turned upside down and now it's a nightmare. My daughter was such a bright bubbly girl.'

The two-day trial at Aylesbury Crown Court heard that as Howard, a line painter from Buckingham, sped towards Rhiannon on a quiet road near his home in April last year he shouted: 'Move, because I'm not stopping.'

Howard admitted he could have avoided Rhiannon if he had slowed right down.

The carbon fibre titanium bicycle was built to Howard's specifications.

Despite its cost, the court heard it did not comply with the Highway Code because it had no reflectors on the pedals or on the back.

Howard, who has a previous conviction and is well-known in his home town as a 'thrill-seeker', was also ordered to pay £750 in costs.