Court case- CPS v a driver that assaulted me last June

Middle fingers, wanker signs, shouting abuse are all completely reasonable and natural reactions to cuntish behaviour from drivers (and fellow cyclists). But this thread shows that it can be a red rag to an already cuntish bull, so we should be careful is all.

This is exactly the reason my example got out of hand. Had I held my hands up in a wtf gesture instead of what I did, the driver would probably not have got so enraged. I am also not condeming Katies actions because I know how these things happen in the heat of the moment. We can but learn from these experiences.

hmm, the post that I was refuring to earlier was only for civil cases sadly. Its here (http://blog.scrapperduncan.com/2011/12/21/advice-on-how-to-be-a-good-witness-in-court-in-england-wales/) if anyone is interested. I'll try to find out if there is a similar one for criminal witnesses somewhere.

Bravo, so good to hear an example of the bad guy getting what he deserves. It sounds like your exemplary handling of the situation combined with a slice of luck (witnesses who did the right thing) combined to win a case that could easily have got away.

And the cycle instructor punchline - amazing!

@MrDrem

This would actually be really helpful to me. I'm a witness in an up-coming trial and an idea of what to expect would be good. Katie-Coo's experience plus a sense that the defendant in this case is going to be lawyered up makes me a little apprehensive. Obv can't go into details.

Winning!

good to see justice done. I think the fact that the guy pleaded not guilty hopefully means he gets a longer punishment.

Assault on cyclists by drivers is bad enough but for a guy to assault a female cyclist is very low in my books and shameful behaviour. no excuse for that sort of thing.

and well done Katie-Coo for the smackdown on his Barrister. Pow

Had no idea Kate - really hope if there's something even small in the way of a fine, that it goes your way. Nobody should ever get let off lightly for such threatening behaviour.
I can only hope he's made an example of - Good luck!

Good work on seeing this one through. Many people wouldn't have, and by doing so you've made the roads safer for everyone.

Well done! Glad everything turned out peachy for once..

I enraged a white van full of nutters by being on a bike today, the usual beep followed by them overtaking me really close, beeping and shouting out of the window(nothing out of the ordinary), I then gave fingers(standard). At the lights I see the driver getting out so I swing through the passenger side and one of them throws a punch out the window, luckily I ducked it, then took pursuit almost to the front door of my flats and promptly forgot the registration while typing the doorcode in.. Damn. Was really looking forward to calling the police and have them do nothing about it too.

Well done! Glad everything turned out peachy for once..

I enraged a white van full of nutters by being on a bike today, the usual beep followed by them overtaking me really close, beeping and shouting out of the window(nothing out of the ordinary), I then gave fingers(standard). At the lights I see the driver getting out so I swing through the passenger side and one of them throws a punch out the window, luckily I ducked it, then took pursuit almost to the front door of my flats and promptly forgot the registration while typing the doorcode in.. Damn. Was really looking forward to calling the police and have them do nothing about it too.

You nuts?! Bloody hell - you're seriously lucky you didn't get doored or worse!

I rode past a van this morning and slapped the open fuel lid shut. The guy looked at me so I made a fuel lid flapping shut motion followed by thumbs up. Not all hand gestures are evil.

Well done! Glad everything turned out peachy for once..

I enraged a white van full of nutters by being on a bike today, the usual beep followed by them overtaking me really close, beeping and shouting out of the window(nothing out of the ordinary), I then gave fingers(standard). At the lights I see the driver getting out so I swing through the passenger side and one of them throws a punch out the window, luckily I ducked it, then took pursuit almost to the front door of my flats and promptly forgot the registration while typing the doorcode in.. Damn. Was really looking forward to calling the police and have them do nothing about it too.

I think that I might have biked my way to a police station in this case... :)

Context & nuance are lost in writing them down in short posts.

The day that hand gestures are invitations to assault, however, is the day that we should all get our coats and leave.

100%.

We're essentially in agreement I think, let's Give It Up.

You nuts?! Bloody hell - you're seriously lucky you didn't get doored or worse!

I'm quick moving!

I think that I might have biked my way to a police station in this case... :)

I was actually planning on calling them, as there was definitely malicious intent there, even if babylon did nothing about me they probably had no tax or were up to something dodgy..

Good work KC on seeing this through. Also bad luck for being the victim in the first place. I'll keep your example in my head if I'm also unlucky enough to be a victim of this sort of assault. It will inspire me to use our justice system to prosecute thugs on the road.

@MrDrem

This would actually be really helpful to me. I'm a witness in an up-coming trial and an idea of what to expect would be good. Katie-Coo's experience plus a sense that the defendant in this case is going to be lawyered up makes me a little apprehensive. Obv can't go into details.

I've had a reply from @scrapperduncan (who wrote the blog post) on twitter, he says that the advice is sound for criminal cases too, but that more might be required depending on the type of court that you're in.

Hope that helps!

Fucking Class!

Thanks for posting K-C. It's good to know that despite the "horror" of the dock cases such as yours are worth pursuing.

Katie-Coo, you are my hero of the day.

That's a brilliant result. I'll mentally use it as revenge for the very similar thing that happened to me, only in that case the driver actually turned around in order to come back, run me off the road and throw a few kicks. I agree with tommmm and vwm, had I not stuck the fingers up this might/would not have happened.

Well done Katie-Coo!
I'm also heartened to hear that the witnesses were good enough to come forward at the time. So many back-off immediately. My guess is that your good demeanor did much to secure their confidence.

And yes, we all benefit from the fact that you carried through the process.

Last driver that grabbed me, got a bent nose.
I get it daily when I'm out working, some people really don't know how to drive, I saw something recently, a guy failed his theory test 92 times.
Yet we still let people like that learn to drive!
Hope all goes well with this.

Katie,

Well done it takes determination to see these things through and at the end of the day it is the only way we will get drivers to behave properly. In the numerous times this sort of thing has happened to me I have just left it because my experience of the police is a very negative one and I am surprised they did anything in this case.

Ubergroover,
As a witness you can expect to be the lowest of the low, who has called you as a witness? When you attend court you will not be allowed in the court room until called to give evidence. The Clerk of the Court will be able to tell you approximately when you will be let in but it is worth taking a book as you will be waiting around in a corridor for some time. Any specific questions feel free to PM me

Zebs