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

My god- just got a letter from the police, he was sentenced last week. Guess what he got?
6 weeks custodial.

^ nice.

fantastic news

Fantatic result!

Really? I think it's a bit much. I mean, I know he won't serve the whole thing, but given the state of our prisons and, more importantly, the state of our CPS, I think I'd rather he did a community sentence and the money spent on incaceration went on something more productive. I think in this case a criminal record is probably a fairly hefty deterrent.
I'm going to see if I can find out why he got such a weighty sentence.

Really? I think it's a bit much. I mean, I know he won't serve the whole thing, but given the state of our prisons and, more importantly, the state of our CPS, I think I'd rather he did a community sentence and the money spent on incaceration went on something more productive. I think in this case a criminal record is probably a fairly hefty deterrent.
I'm going to see if I can find out why he got such a weighty sentence.

Personally, when you see drivers getting off for killing people, I'm not going to be too upset for the one person whose sentance goes some way of re-addressing this imbalance.

Equally, take away the car and cyclist aspect, transfer it too a nightclub and does the sentence look too extreme?

I also suspect he may have been known and that that has reflected the sentencing.

6 weeks for deliberate and violent assault? A rather lenient sentence in reality. That is a deterrent to road rage that is really necessary and should be publicised as a cautionary note to other drivers who behave as if the road is theirs.

I hear what you say about doing some community work, but believe me those schemes are a farce. They are certainly no deterrent to violent and intimidating behaviour.
This is a win all round, in my view, and you should be congratulated for your presence of mind and for seeing it through.

Katie-Coo, thanks for linking me to this thread.

I can understand your concern about the sentence, but in rare cases like this, where a driver actually receives punishment for a crime against a cyclist, I think it needs to go down as a success even if the punishment seems a bit more than expected. More is better than less, even if it does highlight another inadequacy in the justice system :)

I hear what you say about doing some community work, but believe me those schemes are a farce. They are certainly no deterrent to violent and intimidating behaviour.

Why's that? Just wondering, not being accusative.

Sounds like a fair result to me. For road traffic offences (like careless/negligent driving), I would be all for education rather than a simple punishment, but this was assault. It sets a good precedent for similar incidents in the future; hopefully it'll make our shared streets a little bit safer.

Really? I think it's a bit much. I mean, I know he won't serve the whole thing, but given the state of our prisons and, more importantly, the state of our CPS, I think I'd rather he did a community sentence and the money spent on incaceration went on something more productive. I think in this case a criminal record is probably a fairly hefty deterrent.
I'm going to see if I can find out why he got such a weighty sentence.

sentencing will take into account any relevant previous convictions, any failure to comply with previous community sentences, any personal mitigation as well as the harm caused by the offence in question and the man's culpability for this.
there are sentencing guidelines the magistrates have regard to (http://sentencingcouncil.judiciary.gov.uk/docs/Magistrates_Guidelines_including_update_1__2__3_4_5_web.pdf)
it sounds like he was convicted of common assault and a s.4(1) public order offence - you can look up the relevant guidelines and judge for yourself whether the sentence he got was excessive or lenient.

sentencing will take into account any relevant previous convictions, any failure to comply with previous community sentences, any personal mitigation as well as the harm caused by the offence in question and the man's culpability for this.
there are sentencing guidelines the magistrates have regard to (http://sentencingcouncil.judiciary.gov.uk/docs/Magistrates_Guidelines_including_update_1__2__3_4_5_web.pdf)
it sounds like he was convicted of common assault and a s.4(1) public order offence - you can look up the relevant guidelines and judge for yourself whether the sentence he got was excessive or lenient.

I was going to say. Don't feel any guilt about the fact that he's received a custodial sentence - it won't have been allowed to be brought up in court if he has previous similar convictions.

I find it unlikely that he would have received a custodial sentence if he hadn't received a community order in the past and it was found to have not stopped him.

Clearly the judge/magistrates had good reason to feel he needed banged up.

Seems like a fair sentence to me. You did the right thing, and so did the Court.