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news
Justice (Lonpicman, Wikimedia Commons)Cambridge cyclist feared for life after driver's knife threat
A cyclist in Cambridge was so shaken after an incident in which a motorist threatened to use a knife on him that he installed extra security at his home due to fears for his own safety and that of his family, a court has heard.
Bobby Willett, aged 23, pleaded guilty to charges of careless driving and threatening behaviour as a result of the incident which took place at around 6pm on 18 September last year on Chesterton High Street, reports Cambridge News.
Cambridge Magistrates’ Court was told that the 53-year-old cyclist became aware of a white BMW drawing up alongside him as he headed towards Green End Road.
Clare Maggin, prosecuting, said: "He was quite worried about how close that vehicle was coming and was in fear of being knocked off.
"He shouted at the driver to move over because he felt so scared about what was happening.”
She said Willett “started swerving in and out near the cyclist and the defendant was throwing objects out of the vehicle at him, one was a water bottle."
He also swore at the cyclist and shouted for him to stop. The victim, who was fearful for his safety, “pedalled faster to get away,” she added.
Willett stopped his car, got out and shoved the victim in the chest while shouting at him in a “very aggressive manner.”
She said that after Willett said he had a knife and the pair could “sort this out now,” the victim felt "particularly intimidated that something bad was going to happen."
"He feared for his family, himself and his property after it occurred."
The court was told that after the attack the victim put security measures in place at home including barricading his gates and installing CCTV.
Willett claimed when he was interviewed by police that his grandmother had been in the car with him and that the water bottle fell out when she opened the door after he stopped the car because she had cramp in her foot.
But Ms Maggin told the court: "It's clear from the witnesses there was no one else in the car. It was a clear fabrication at the time."
Speaking in defence of Willett, Kathryn Hovington said he acknowledged he had been "wound up and hit out," and that he had thrown rubbish from the car at the victim.
She added that he asked the cyclist to stop because he believed he had hit the side of his vehicle.
"This is the first time this defendant has done anything like this," said Ms Hovington. "Mr Willett is extremely anxious about the whole situation. These proceedings have been a massive wake-up call. He is really sorry.
"He made terrible judgment on the day. Mr Willett is a young man of 23 who has no history of violence."
Although he did not in fact have a knife, he understood that the threat he made would have caused distress to the victim and that he wanted to compensate him, she added.
The case has been adjourned until 22 May while a pre-sentencing report is compiled.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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29 comments
It's very simple: this was assault + dangerous driving (according to the evidence presented) so why isn't the motorist being charged as such?
Another moton getting away with far too much; he will most likely pay with very little.
Is it any wonder there is so little public faith in the "justice" element of our utterly flawed criminal justice system?
I think BMWs should be banned they seem to make people into complete cocks who think they own the road, it doesn't matter if you're on a bike or in a car beware of Beemers.
Its not BMWs that are the problem, it is the people who think that driving a BMW, or an Audi, gives them some kind of special privilege, that places them above the rest of humanity that uses the roads.
There really should be a mental assessment as part of the driving test, certain drivers simply should never be allowed near a car!
When someone buys a BMW there should be an automatic notification for the DVLA so that the proud new owner should then get a letter saying they need a compulsory retest.
What absolute bull.
/bmw owner
Stereotypes exist for a reason, they are never 100% accurate...
Go on a motorway and look at the drivers/the cars, the lane discipline, the manner of driving, even look around the country, etc. You start to see patterns.
One of those is middle managers in 3/5series/A4/A6 tend to drive fast and aggressively and rarely leave the overtaking lanes. Taxi drivers tend to ignore lights, cycle boxes etc. Shockingly for some I find HGV drivers to be generally very considerate, unlike school run mums who are very distracted and If they are in a faux 4x4 lethally spatially unaware.
Can this idea be extended to Audi drivers and anyone who has applied to Addison Lee for a job?
"All cyclists are angry red-light-jumping fools in lycra who should work harder and buy a car"
Nope, those stereotypes don't work in either direction. It's isn't BMWs or Audis you need to worry about, it's idiots. Idiots need a form of transport (or hobby, YMMV) like everyone else.
I drive a BMW (and previously an Audi). No matter whether I'm driving or riding (considerately), there's always no shortage of people willing to give me grief.
"no shortage of people willing to give me grief".
Doesn't this tell you something?
Here's the definition of assault in England:
"An assault is committed when a person intentionally or recklessly causes another to apprehend the immediate infliction of unlawful force. "
http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/l_to_o/offences_against_the_person/#a07
Yes, the driver did commit that crime. Twice. By throwing the bottle and by swerving the car at the person riding a bike.
Four times actually. In addition by pushing the cyclist in the chest and telling the cyclist he had a knife and they could "sort it out" by implication/intimidation he would be stabbed. Enough to scare any normal person who isn't Jason Bourne.
I think I have seen this white BMW driving like a total cock. About 6 months ago I was crossing Chesterton road, at the crossing near the Spar supermarket and this white BMW nearly ran me down as he was driving at an insane speed I reckon at about 60mph in a 30mph. I screamed as I thought I was a goner and so did a grey van man coming the other way. Van man stopped to ask if I was ok. So I reckon this guy is a total thug whose has a long pattern of behaviour like this and it is only now that he has been caught. Normal people don't behave like this even ones that are careless drivers, but psychos do and also psychos that lie through their teeth. He should be in prison for at least 5 years. He may or may not have had a knife but giving the impression to some one that you are going stab them has the same affect. He should have been on an attempted GBH charge s.18 OAPA or wounding with intent. Then there is trying deliberately to injure or kill some one with your car. He cannot argue that his driving was careless as it was patently deliberate as he later stopped his car, got out, pushed the cyclist and threatened the cyclist with a knife!!!! The CPS are so crap! This guy should be in jail, 5 years minimum. This should wake him up. And his car crushed.
Three times, actually, as he got out of the car, hurled abuse at the victim and threatened them with a knifing. But, hey, who's counting...
Three times, actually, as he got out of the car, hurled abuse at the victim and threatened them with a knifing. But, hey, who's counting...
"This is the first time this defendant has done anything like this," said Ms Hovington."
And at the same time ...
"This is the first time this defendant has has got caught doing anything like this," thought Ms Hovington."
The BMW driver's actions were totally unacceptable. The worst thing about it is that all of us who cycle will probably have experienced something similar.
It's the defence lawyer's job to make comments in mitigation, but it's doubtful if it's appropriate to tell the court that the defendant asked the cyclist to stop 'because he believed he had hit the side of his vehicle.' That's not the way it works when a car overtakes a bike, and it sounds like a fabrication.
Find out where the cunt lives and send the boys round
Find out where the cunt lives and send the boys round
"He is really sorry ..." that he got caught.
"... has no history of violence" because this is the first time he has been caught
At least the scumbag got caught and convicted.
Will be his normal way of driving / acting, so hopefully now he'll keep racking up convictions...
Someone tell me where this driver lives. Is there not a street address for these offenders?
""This is the first time this defendant has done anything like this," said Ms Hovington."
spheroids... he's lying through his teeth about that... it's just that he got caught this time...
My gut feeling is that somebody doesn't just blow up like this for the first time so I have my doubts this really was the first instance of this sort of behaviour. I'd wager that the reality of him having "no history of violence" actually means no record of his history of violence. And indeed, if this was the first, and only, time he has reacted like this, then why would it be a "massive wake up call"? Surely you'd only have or need a 'massive wake up call' if this was a pattern of behaviour rather than just a one off?
I will admit that the admission he was driving a white BMW sets my spidey-senses and twatometer right off.
How is throwing objects at a cyclist whilst repeatedly serving at him considered merely careless?
I've no idea, if you were drinking and dropped it, that's careless. Throwing it at someone being classed as careless is the equivalent of punching someone in the face and being told it was careless. The word has ceased to have any meaning in UK law
This Plus 1000.
In any other walk of life this would be an assault. but because this particular scumer was in a car it was merely careless. I wonder what I would be changed with if I'd carelessly been swing my D lock and hit him in the head ?
No it wouldn't. Don't be so dramatic. It makes us all look bad. In no walk of life would throwing a plastic bottle at (and not even hitting) them be assault. It would, at most, be a public order offence. Big difference between being hit with a plastic bottle and a d-lock or being punched. It is 100% not assault and this kind of reaction just makes people more tribal and builds barriers.
Sounds like the guy got the right charge to me. I assume that the reason it was careless and not dangerous was, first, no one was injured and, second, he admitted to driving that was careless but either the CPS or the Judge felt that it was difficult to prove it was dangerous, as the lawyers would have argued about proving the swerving was intentional or close enough to be a danger, which can be very difficult.
Be glad that the situation was taken seriously by the police and please, stop trying to build these barriers and being so aggressive. It just sets cyclists back and reinforces the image of angry men in Lycra.
I don't think he's being massively over dramatic and I think you're missing his underlying point despite him being incorrect about the assault. An emotive post on Internet forums does not mean the poster is an angry and aggressive man once he dons the lycra and wheels out the Specialised. You're talking about barriers that don't really exist, these are isolated incidents in the grand scheme of things but the perception of the frequency of such incidents is perpetuated on the Internet because we all live in the global village now.
His underlying point, if I may, is that people in cars seem to be treated differently, more leniently and less robustly when someone is threatened or their life is put in danger, or they are the victim of a criminal offence when the perpetrator is behind a wheel.
That's why government is being canvassed by all these cycling advocates and groups because the sentencing and prosecution guidelines for drivers are totally disproportionate against the victim. I agree.
Dramatic? Really? The defendant's story is weak at best and rather suggests that the cyclists version was 100% correct. This type of behaviour is unacceptable and just because no injury was registered does not mitigate in my view. For the cyclist the unpredictability and fear in such a situation is very difficult to quantify.
It's time behaviour of this sort resulted in the motorist getting a sentance by way of example (I doubt the law allows for this).
Motorists know full well they rarely get caught and the onus is on the cyclist to prove. Believe me I've had a similar experience to which the police were very good about it all but ultimately unable to do anything.
By the way the motorist who threw a full can of coke at my head, while descended at 30mph+ claimed it was an accident. Maybe he was throwing the can at his Grandma, who was a tad thirsty?
I assume he also got done for littering - after admitting throwing rubbish from his car - and perverting the course of justice (or whatever it's called) for fabricating evidence (ie. that he had his grandmother in the car).