Please report dangerous drivers to the police - Roadsafe. Report to plod, not just whinge here.

I agree with the swinging, just pointing out this is worse.

I agree with the swinging.

Fnar.

Just found out today that a driver who assaulted me finally changed his plea to 'guilty' at Crown Court. He will need to return in December for sentencing. He was charged with dangerous driving and assault causing actual bodily harm - he ran my foot over and broke 2 toes.

Details are: He was in a car behind me in a bus lane, sounding his horn. I was in primary position and did not move over to let him get past. He then knocked me off my bike (told the police it was a gentle tap with his bumper to give me a warning), got out and started to push me around. I shouted and swore at him, which he told the police made him feel intimidated, so he got back in the car. A crowd of people had gathered around, one of whom tried to get in the car (the witness said he did this as he was scared that the man was going to run me over, so wanted to pull the handbrake to stop him), this made the driver scared, so he panicked and drove off quickly. He said that didn't drive at me, although he didn't make a concious effort to get out of the way of my bike that I threw at his car, and ran my foot over after I stepped backwards to get out of his way. He couldn't recall driving over my foot and, because of the crowd, didn't want to stop either.

I found that the police were excellent, everyone from the PC that initially attended to the detective that took over the case.

I am glad that I did not have to go to court and give evidence, although I think that having 9 witnesses all agreeing with me (he did not have any witnesses) helped change his mind.

I am hoping that when he gets sentenced he will, at the very least, get banned from driving for a long time. One of my toes has not healed properly, and I will probably have to get it operated on so that it can function normally again.

The incident happened in May, it has been a long process but I am glad that it is (nearly) over.

The sentencing was today, I went to Southwark Crown Court as I was owed some time off work and was interested to know what sentence the driver got.

The driver had already pleaded guilty, so the CPS lawyer went through the evidence and witness statements briefly, the defence lawyer then put forward the mitigating circumstances. The driver was of good character, was employed and had no previous convictions aside from 3 points for speeding (35mph in a 30mph zone). He also went to the police at the earliest opportunity, was cooperative and is very sorry for his actions. He never intended to hurt me, and as such they would accept a driving ban and a suspended sentence / community service.

The judge was great - he said that the driver didn't hand himself in at the earliest opportunity, he only went to the police as they put a calling card through his letterbox, he didn't stop at the time of the incident. He also said that he did not believe there was no intention to hurt me - the driver was in a sports car weighing over a tonne, I was on a bike weighing a few pounds, the driver must have been fully aware that driving at me would be likely to cause harm.

Because the incident was a sustained and repeated attack with a weapon, and there was an intention to hurt me, there was no choice but to give a custodial sentence.

The driver has been sentenced to 8 months in prison and banned from driving for 3 years.

At the end the judge said 'send him down', which I thought was a really cheesy line from a film, actually this means that he will be in prison tonight!!

I am really shocked, I expected him to get either points on his licence or a 12 month ban and a fine as a maximum. I kind of felt guilty, but talking to friends earlier they convinced me that I should not, after all I was the victim.

There was a reporter from the Evening Standard :) and also the Daily Mail ther taking noted, so I may become famous.

At long last justice has been done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Win!

3 years! wow! what have he done to deserve this?

Good work, don't feel bad, God knows what that maniac would have ended up doing if he had got away with this. You might have saved a life.

Ye gods, an appropriate sentence? Well done there twitch.

I kind of felt guilty,

You really shouldn't

You really shouldn't

I was kind of feeling guilty as he will probably lose his job and find it hard to get another, and I am all for rehabilitation of offenders, but know that in real life he is on a short term sentence so will not get training / counselling. If he does not get this then when he gets out he could be just another person that will live on benefits / maybe offend again.

When I got to court I spoke with the usher and was told to go to the waiting room and wait to be called. I went there and he was in the same room along with his character witness (a Priest). He did not recognise me, I was wearing a suit, not my cycling kit, so I sat with my back to him. I listened to him talking to the other guy, he was saying that he knew he would be banned from driving so was trying to sell his car (BMW Z4) but was having problems due to the dents (from my bike !!!), he also mentioned that his solicitor thought he would be OK as the cyclist was a psycopath!!!! I was quite suprised that they told me to wait in the same room (albeit very large) as him....

When the Priest got up to provide the character reference he said that the driver was normally a very calm and reserved person. When the judge asked what the relationship was, I was expecting the Priest to say 'this is Saint Derek, he does such a lot of work for the Church and charity', but actually it transpired that the driver just rented a flat from the Priest. The judge's comment was just 'Oh'.... It is kind of like me taking someone from the Halifax as a witness, they would think I am a model citizen as I always pay my mortgage.....

So yes, thinking back I should not have felt guilty, and should really have spoken up when the defence lawyer said that he was sorry for his actions. In the waiting room he clearly was not......

He was wrong and got a suitable punishment, ideally there would be better care for offenders coming out of prison but that's a separate (but important) issue.

I hope this gets into the mainstream media. It would be a reminder to a lot of very aggressive drivers. Well done for seeing this through.

Well done that judge!

For one thing, how could the offender be of good character if he had a BMW?.. Also, priests do not have rooms to rent out unless they are doing something well dodgy themselves.

I hope you have recovered from your experience twitch and that your toes have mended...

Twitch, could you possibly contact the LCC or similar organisation who might be able to help make this a news story? It is useful for things like this to get some media attention as it makes people more aware that driving like an aggressive idiot is not acceptable.

You really shouldn't

Twitch, could you possibly contact the LCC or similar organisation who might be able to help make this a news story? It is useful for things like this to get some media attention as it makes people more aware that driving like an aggressive idiot is not acceptable.

Well there was a journalist from the London Evening Standard and also an agency journalist (apparently works for the Daily Mail) taking notes. I talked to the Standard journalist, but was still in a state of shock, I phoned him when I got back home, he said he was busy and he would call me back, am still waiting for the call.......

If this is national-newsworthy then I will happily speak with LCC / CTC / BC....

I am just happy that there is one less bad driver / killer on the roads.

Daily Mail? Did the accident cause you cancer or was the driver an immigrant?

This is very very newsworthy, and organisations like the ones you have mentioned will be able to push it in the right direction.

Well done that judge!

For one thing, how could the offender be of good character if he had a BMW?.. Also, priests do not have rooms to rent out unless they are doing something well dodgy themselves.

I hope you have recovered from your experience twitch and that your toes have mended...

Apparently C of E Priests might have had other business interests before joining the clergy so this is not an issue.

My toes have kind of mended - I was running regularly, doing half marathons in 1 hour 40 min, and occasional triathlons, I can now run (slowly) after 7 months, athough I still have a bit of pain. The worst thing is keeping my foot still - when I drive (eg. to go to see my wife / son in Wales) after 30 mins my toe is really aching - who would have thought that cycling 1 hour to work would be so easy, but driving (or even sitting still at work) would be so hard.....

Cruise control ftw!

This is very very newsworthy, and organisations like the ones you have mentioned will be able to push it in the right direction.

I think that this is very newsworthy because of the sentence, which is quite harsh compared to other similar / worse events. Hopefully any press coverage may educate some of the driving population.....

I think that this is very newsworthy because of the sentence, which is quite fair compared to other similar / worse events. Hopefully any press coverage may educate some of the driving population.....

ftfy

Apparently C of E Priests might have had other business interests before joining the clergy so this is not an issue.

My toes have kind of mended - I was running regularly, doing half marathons in 1 hour 40 min, and occasional triathlons, I can now run (slowly) after 7 months, athough I still have a bit of pain. The worst thing is keeping my foot still - when I drive (eg. to go to see my wife / son in Wales) after 30 mins my toe is really aching - who would have thought that cycling 1 hour to work would be so easy, but driving (or even sitting still at work) would be so hard.....

Driving is a weird one - I got doored two years ago and twisted my knee. It never gives me any kind of trouble at all, except when I drive for longer than an hour at a time, when it aches like fuck. Think its because your legs and feet are held in a state of tension for pretty much the entire duration of the journey, whereas when you're on the bike, you're always pushing or pulling something reasonably hard so it provides some mechanical relief.

I'm glad the courts took it seriously - every time I've read your story I've had chills up my spine because it's one of those tales that could have gone so much worse, and that can happen to any one of us. The driver sounds a nutter, and it seems the judge agreed, even though you initally seemed to have been swayed by his brief's shitty arguments. But that's what briefs are for, and the judge has to listen to this shit all day long so he likely knows a fabricated sob-story when he sees one. You're right to revise your original feeling of being guilty about it. Like spindrift says, you might well have saved a life.

At first I was ???????????????

But then I was 'I understand'.....

Result!

Very happy you got proper justice from the court. It'll make any claims you need to make against the driver a lot easier!

At first I was ???????????????

But then I was 'I understand'.....

Daily Mail? Did the accident cause you cancer or was the driver an immigrant?

No - "Evil cyclist put dent in middle class car AND the judge sent the victim down"

With pic of judge.