A former courier who knocked over and killed a mother-of-two from Lewisham while riding an illegal Olympic-style racing bike for the "thrill" has been locked up for 18 months.

Charlie Alliston, then 18, was travelling at 18mph on a fixed-wheel track bike with no front brakes when he crashed into 44-year-old Kim Briggs as she crossed Old Street in east London, in February last year.

Following a trial at the Old Bailey, Alliston was cleared of manslaughter but found guilty of causing bodily harm by "wanton and furious driving".

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Kim Briggs

Sentencing today, Judge Wendy Joseph QC said: "I am satisfied in some part it was this so-called thrill that motivated you to ride without a front brake shouting and swearing at pedestrians to get out of the way.

"I've heard your evidence and I have no doubt that even now you remain obstinately sure of yourself and your own abilities. I have no doubt you are wrong in this.

"You were an accident waiting to happen. The victim could have been any pedestrian. It was in fact Mrs Kim Briggs."

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The judge said Alliston's "whole manner of driving" caused the accident.

"If your bicycle had a front wheel brake you could have stopped but on this illegal bike you could not and on your evidence, by this stage, you were not even trying to slow or stop.

"You expected her to get out of the way."

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The fixed wheel track bicycle that was ridden by Charlie Alliston when he crashed into Kim Briggs

Mrs Briggs' widower Matthew has called for a "radical change" in cycling culture and the introduction of new laws, including causing death by dangerous cycling.

Speaking outside the court last month, he said: " said: "I am now determined to do what I can to prevent others from going through the heartache we have had to bear following Kim's needless death.

"We need to radically change some aspects of our cycling culture.

"This is not a witch-hunt against all cyclists, I, myself cycle in London, only the irresponsible and reckless."

MORE: Husband of Lewisham mum who died after a cyclist crash calls for tougher laws for 'irresponsible and reckless' riders

At his sentencing today, September 18, Alliston raised his eyebrows as the judge said his sentence would be custodial.

In a series of posts on social media, Alliston described how he twice warned Mrs Briggs to "get the f*** outta my way".

He wrote: "We collided pretty hard, our heads hit together, hers went into the floor and ricocheted into mine."

He complained: "It's not my fault people either think they are invincible or have zero respect for cyclists."

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But in mitigation, his lawyer Mark Wyeth QC told the court: "What we do not have is a callous young man who doesn't give a damn about anything."

He said his client had suffered tragedy at the age of 16 when his father collapsed and died from a heart attack on the bathroom floor just a week before Alliston was to sit his GCSEs.

The court heard Alliston was depressed, had broken up with his girlfriend and lost his job.

Alliston, now 20, from Bermondsey, had denied both charges against him.