Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has pledged to change the law to make killer cyclists face much tougher sentences.

The UK Government Minister’s move follows the one-year jail term imposed last month on Stewart McGinn for causing the death of Monmouth widow Elizabeth Stone.

Currently, bike riders who cause accidents that kill are prosecuted under an archaic law of “wanton and furious driving” – Victorian legislation designed for horse-drawn carriages – with a maximum sentence of two years.

But Mr Shapps now wants to change the law so that reckless cycling can be treated the same way as dangerous driving, which carries a maximum term of 14 years.

He said it will “impress on cyclists the real harm they can cause when speed is combined with lack of care”.

Ministers are said to be seeking a “balance” to “encourage cycling… but at the same time ensure that pedestrians are protected from irresponsible cycling behaviour”.

And the new proposal will see an offence of causing death by dangerous cycling added to the Transport Bill due before Parliament in the autumn.

‘Coward’ cyclist McGinn rode off after leaving 79-year-old retired teacher Mrs Stone with fatal injuries on the pavement yards from her home at the junction of Wonastow and Somerset roads last year, after careering full pelt into her around a blind corner.

Cardiff Crown Court heard that the incident happened shortly before 10pm on June 7, 2021, as the former St Thomas’ church warden, also known as Jane, walked home with friend Janet Bromley from a trip to the cinema.

Horrific CCTV film of the crash showed McGinn cutting the corner on the pavement “very fast”, ploughing straight into the duo and striking Mrs Stone ‘violently’.

He immediately remounted and rode off without a second glance, leaving her critically injured on the ground with a fractured skull despite pleas from her friend.

She died in hospital four days later, and McGinn finally came forward on June 17 following a police appeal and the publication of a CCTV image of him riding his mountain bike, which had no lights and faulty rear brakes.

The father-of-one from Troy Way, Monmouth, told police he had stopped and helped the pensioner to her feet, but later admitted he was lying.

He admitted ‘wanton and furious driving’ in court and was jailed for one year last month.

But the proposed law change will see reckless riders face much longer jail terms, with Mr Shapps blasting a “selfish minority” of cyclists who believe they are “immune” to road rules.

“We need to crack down on this disregard for road safety,” he said.

“Relatives of victims have waited too long for this straightforward measure.”

He described the current law as “a legal relic of the horse-drawn era”.

“We need to crack down on this disregard for road safety,” he added.

“As we move into an era of sustained mass cycling, a thoroughly good thing, we must bring home to cyclists – too often themselves the victims of careless or reckless motoring – that the obligation to put safety first applies equally to every road user.”

“There can be no exceptions.”

The husband of London woman Karen Briggs who was killed by a cyclist in 2016 renewed his call for a change in the law in the wake of the sentence for Mrs Stone’s killer.

Welcoming the news of the proposed law change, Matthew Briggs said this week: “There should be an equivalence in the sentence available to judges, whether it’s a car, lorry or cyclist that’s killed someone. The mode of transport shouldn’t matter...

“The grief, the tragedy and the hurt is always the same, regardless of what the vehicle is.”