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The partner of a cyclist killed by a pensioner who allegedly pressed the accelerator rather than brake today called on the courts to ban her from ever getting behind the wheel again.

Angela Cook, 35, spoke out as magistrates prepared to sentence 73-year-old Marjorie Tappenden tomorrow for causing the death of Kevin Lane.

Mr Lane, 52, was the first of 12 cyclists killed in collisions in London last year. He was run over by a car driven by Tappenden in Woodford Green.

At Redbridge magistrates’ court on January 5 she pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving.

Ms Cook, 35, said: “I don’t ever want her to drive again, and I think there needs to be a minimum of a suspended sentence for her. If it was someone who was 35 or 45, I would be expecting them to go to prison. I realise she is an old lady but she has got to take responsibility for killing someone.”

Mr Lane, a professional cyclist in his youth, was on a 70-mile training ride via Epping Forest into Essex when he was hit by Tappenden’s car on February 9 last year. She had been turning right from Bunces Lane onto Woodford Green High Road when she is believed to have pressed the accelerator instead of the brake. The car went careering into him from behind.

With her husband in the passenger seat, she could not regain control and the car did a U-turn, hitting a bollard with Mr Lane trapped underneath. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Mr Lane, of Hackney Wick, was a manager for Go-Ahead bus company in Northumberland Park. Part of his job was securing CCTV evidence from bus cameras for police to prosecute violent offenders. Ms Cook, who works for a different bus company, said: “Kevin strongly believed that every cyclist had the right to be safe on the road. He was obsessed with cycling and built all his bikes. If this could happen to Kevin, it could happen to anyone.”

She met the Crown Prosecution Service yesterday to express concerns that the case was not being taken seriously. She questioned the effectiveness of a substitute prosecutor drafted in at the last minute for the January 5 hearing.

Ms Cook also feared magistrates seemed to think their limited sentencing powers were sufficient to deal with the case, giving no indication it would be referred to crown court.

A senior prosecutor will take over tomorrow when Tappenden, of Woodford Green, appears before Redbridge magistrates again. A CPS spokesman said: “Our position has always been that the magistrates should consider referring this case to crown court, in view of its seriousness. That will remain our position at the hearing on Thursday.”