Ex-footballer jailed for mowing down pensioner

Kian Monks was jailed for knocking down 70-year-old Margaret Scaldwell

A former Wigan Athletic youth footballer who left a pensioner with a broken spine when he ran her over while riding an e-bike at speed has been jailed.

Margaret Scaldwell, 70, also suffered a bleed to the brain and lost all of her teeth, when the e-bike ploughed into her as she crossed Orrell Road in Orrell, Wigan, in August 2023.

Bolton Crown Court was played CCTV of the crash which Ms Scadwell said "ruined her life".

Former Wigan academy player, Kian Monks, 21, who pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving was sentenced to two years and three months, while e-bike owner and passenger, Joel Pilling, 22, received a suspended sentence.

Margaret Scaldwell says she was an independent lady before she was struck by the e-bike

The 22-year-old admitted to dangerous driving and aiding and abetting serious injury by dangerous driving.

Pilling's sentencing is the first of its kind in the UK for a passenger of an electric motorbike.

Monks and Pilling fled the scene after ploughing into Ms Scaldwell

A toxicology report found Monks, who was an academy player from the age of seven and played for Wigan Athletic's under 18's side in 2020/21, tested positive for cannabis at the time of the crash.

The court heard how Pilling, of Orrell, who was 20 at the time, bought the electric motorbike "from a mate for £3,200".

A prosecution examination found the single-seat Talaria e-bike, capable of a top speed of 55mph, had serious road defects, including eroded rear brake pads, with the speed limiter disconnected, the court heard.

The court was told the two men were driving between 39mph and 41mph before they struck the 70-year-old in the area where the speed limit is 30mph.

Both men fled the scene, with Monks, of Billinge, arrested at a nearby taxi rank after changing his clothes.

Monks, who was 19 at the time of the incident, repeatedly told the court he "thought [he] was going to die" from injuries he sustained and "wanted to die with his mother".

He told the court he had not remembered driving the e-bike until he was interviewed for a second time by police when presented with CCTV footage.

Warning: Graphic image below

Judge Jon Close rejected Monks' evidence, calling it "unreliable" and "inconsistent" as he tried to shift the blame to Pilling as the driver.

The defence argued Monks, who has been without a club since July 2022, was simply "a young man who lost his way" after sustaining a career-ending ankle injury.

The men face a further charge for failing to provide a specimen.

Judge Jon Close disqualified both men from driving.

Monks faces a four year ban while Pilling is banned for two years.

Margaret Scaldwell says she can no longer "walk wash or feed" herself

The family of Ms Scaldwell are now calling on the government to strengthen the law around e-bikes.

In a statement after sentencing Ms Scaldwell said: "These men's selfishness have ruined my life."

Prior to the collision, "I was an independent lady" and "always had a smile on my face".

Now she said "my life is dehumanising... reduced to a long list of hospital appointments" with "no end" in sight and she can no longer "walk wash or feed" herself.

"No sentence will bring back my health. But I will not let them beat me as I am determined to recover the best I can."

Her daughter Michelle Glaister, who was at home looking after her mother during the sentencing, said the "law needs to change and punishment needs to start fitting the crime".

In a statement, principal partner of Express Solicitors Robin Patey, who represents Ms Scaldwell, said: "At the minute there is no robust deterrent to these illegal e-bikers to stop them causing havoc on the roads.

"Hopefully these sentences can help police crack down on the menace of reckless e-bike riders.

"The law urgently needs to catch up with these criminals and technology."

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."