Close passing motorist repeatedly punched cyclist before wishing witnesses a 'Merry Christmas'

You and I would be mortified by the whole business of a Crown Court case, of acquiring a criminal record - who would want anything to do with him - family member, employee, friend if they knew?  Some people perceive themselves as having little to lose here. Some will not change their ways until they meet something or someone that is bigger than they are. 

Expatpat wrote:

The sentence does appear too lenient, and everyone has the right not to be physically assaulted, but in many of these situations there could be an element of provocation that sparks this type of reaction.

I sometimes wonder if the NMOD campaign/ Youtube  doesnt help in this regard, and we all do it at times, but a cyclist's overly aggressive reaction to a situation (however we may feel is justified) will act as a trigger to unleash anger issues in some apparently unstable people out there.

We simply dont know who is in that box of metal that just drove past us in, according to our perception, an inappropriate manner. To become aggressive or abusive without that knowledge, and in most cases the wherewithall to physically defend this perception, is inevitably a high risk strategy (however unjust that might be).

Oh please, lay off the victim blaming! "When the cyclist stopped by his window to ask why he had passed so closely, Corner got out of his car and punched the cyclist in the face." Where is the "aggressive or abusive" behaviour from the victim in that? Should we all have to spend our lives walking on eggshells in case there's a psychopath in the neighbourhood? I've been threatened in pubs just because someone thought I was "looking at them funny" and on one occasion simply because I was wearing an Ireland rugby shirt. Perhaps I should just stay indoors permanently to make sure I don't upset anyone?

"You don't know who they are, or what they're capable of." Your occasional reminder of my little saying to myself on the motorway.  

Any "provocation" came from the driver, let's be clear. In true car fashion, all the problems became those of the cyclist, one way or the other. 

If you engage, this is the risk you take - the outcome depends on who is better at fisticuffs - depressing, but there it is. I've still got incidents in my head that rankle from months and months ago, I'm sure we all have, where it would have been nice to say to a driver pointedly "what the fuck was that??"  It's like dog training, though, if you miss a beat, the moment has gone - so not long to decide what to do - what are the chances of my making them a better driver for the next time?

You are dealing all too often here with "grown-ups" who are still in the school playground, men who sort out problems and problem people with their fists.  This won't have been the first time for him, this is a practised behaviour, probably won't be the last, particularly in the absence of some jail time to help him mend his ways. 

Yes perhaps you should just stay indoors. And there were 14 men in Ireland shirts took a thumping in Cardiff yesterday (the other one left the pitch early...) 

I dont normally engage with obvious trolls who are obvious but element of provocation ? who was this guy Private Savage ?  the person becoming aggressive or abusive in this case was the driver, end of story.

Read the post you idiot.

Muddy Ford wrote:

"I'm not sure you'd enjoy prison with real criminals"

That one stunned me. "I sentence you to seven years in prison...what's that? You won't enjoy it? Oh well, sorry, didn't realise, conditional discharge."

Plus of course a man that assaults another road user for some perceived slight, causing fractured bones, IS a "real criminal".

A violent criminal at that.

Muddy Ford wrote:

The judge now adding mitigation statements on behalf of the defendant? 

"I suspect you may have learned your lesson"

"An explosion of aggression, which I'm sure you immediately regretted"

"I'm not sure you'd enjoy prison with real criminals"

"You were clearly experiencing some sadness which the cyclist had the temerity to agitate"

Fucking hell. It's about time this type of behaviour is recognised as a hate crime, and I'm not talking about the ex-services thug 

 

regretted it so much he lied about being struck first, lied about how many times he struck the victim, and lied about being worried he would be hit.

Comments from the judge are truely sickening, the sort of people they send there regularly are the same sort as the defendant, who has gone out of his way to provoke a violent incident with some he does not know for no reason. 

And the fact he has boxing experience should be considered an aggravating factor.

If violent assaults of this manner are not considered worthy of prison sentances then what are?

Muddy Ford wrote:

The judge now adding mitigation statements on behalf of the defendant? 

"I suspect you may have learned your lesson"

"An explosion of aggression, which I'm sure you immediately regretted"

"I'm not sure you'd enjoy prison with real criminals"

"You were clearly experiencing some sadness which the cyclist had the temerity to agitate"

Fucking hell. It's about time this type of behaviour is recognised as a hate crime, and I'm not talking about the ex-services thug 

 

It's the real criminals bit that made me shudder.

This man (the driver) is a real criminal. Seriously. It says it right there on the charge sheet, and on the verdict. He's probably committed a S18 assault - although the decline of modern journalism means it's not mentioned in the report and the CPS may have charged s20 to make their lives easier - you don't get a GBH charge for being an unreal criminal.

I don;t want to get all Foucauldian over this, but nothing points up the idea of prison as a means of disciplining and controlling the othered portions of society than the idea that criminals who are not easily othered should be excused prison because the 'others' in there are not nice people.

It's a perfect example of how drivers get away with injuring and maiming cyclists every week - they aren;t seen as other to the judge and jury, so they're automatically excused, or have their offences minimized.

The defendant is a plainly unhinged, large, ex-military man with boxing experience.  Given the last encounter didn't go well, personally I'd stay well away!

As a large, ex military man with boxing experience who does not go throwing my fists around I venture to suggest that the man is not necessarily unhinged, just merely a bully, possibly with anger management issues. I suspect that neither his military service nor his boxing experience are pertinent here (both of which require self control). 

Agreed. 

Violent bully no matter what is going on in the rest of his life and no matter what the cyclist said to him. ;-(

Tbf to the witnesses,who were no doubt not expecting a crazed driver to leap out and start punching people, they at least hung around to help & have statements taken,I saw a cyclist knocked off their bike left lying in the road and i was the only witness to stop,everyone else treated the poor guy as a roundabout and just ignored him.

eburtthebike wrote:

Are people who assault pedestrians not being sent to jail because of covid, or just those who attack cyclists?

There has been further guidance on the applicaiton of the sentencing guidelines during Covid.

https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/news/item/the-application-of-senten...