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news
Justice (Lonpicman, Wikimedia Commons)Road rage cyclist convicted: hit car and driver with heavy bike lock
A cyclist has been convicted of a bike rage attack in which he hit a driver and his car with a heavy cycle lock following a row.
Publisher James Bromet, 51, admitted charges of assault, causing criminal damage and using threatening words to provoke violence at Hammersmith magistrates’ court this week, following the attack in West London in August.
The 51-year-old was cycling on Goldhawk Road when he cycled around and cut up Alfa Romeo driver Robert Jackson as he indicated to turn right.
The victim beeped his horn, which prompted Bromet to shout at him and stick up his middle finger.
Prosecutor Tom Gill said: “He then took a heavy duty bicycle lock on his left handlebar, transferred it to his right hand and shouted: ‘I’m going to hit your car’.”
Mr Jackson pulled his car over, and Mr Gill added: “Mr Bromet then hit the car with the lock just below the right nearside light constellation, causing damage to the bodywork. Mr Jackson then got out of the car and the defendant swung the bike lock at him. He managed to block the strike.”
Bromet’s actions were witnessed by a police officer who immediately arrested him. He later apologised for the attack and said he was “mortified” about the assault.
He said in a police statement read to court: “This car came up behind very aggressively, tooting, obviously taking offence at something, but it didn’t stop, and came up behind us again.
“It was then that I reacted badly.”
Ben Lansbury, defending, said: “We cannot gainsay why the driver of the vehicle stopped, but stop he did, and even in his own words he said he ran towards Mr Bromet in order to detain him, which I take to mean restrain him.
“And at that stage he waved the bike lock about to keep him away - unfortunately there was contact. That went beyond what would be admissible as self defence at that stage.”
Magistrate Greg Thomson said: “This is a road-rage incident where the defendant, for whatever reason, not only chose to use a lock to damage the victim’s car, but has then taken a swing at the victim.
“This is a serious matter, as I have indicated, it is something that the courts take a dim view of.”
Bromet has been bailed pending sentencing on October 14,
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20 comments
Oh my god, a cyclist has actually done something wrong !!!
Hang on a minute the d lock was placed in his hand by the Police officer who didn't actually see anything but after sitting talking to the holier than thou driver has decided that thats what probably happened and the cyclist was just innocently passing and then happily admitted to the offence at court as he's just that sort of guy............
We need to get away from all this cyclists are always the innocent party clap trap as they blatantly are not on numerous occasions.
What is not 'claptrap' is that whoever is at 'fault' the cyclist is always the one whose life is endangered. It is depressingly often the case that the 'innocent' driver has bullied and harassed the cyclist, without ever doing anything formally 'wrong'. It would be nice if the law recognised the disparity in power and vulnerability, rather than just obsessing about 'intentions' and legal formalisms.
Given that the cyclist could have ended up dead, I'd say yes.
The cyclist's behaviour aside, what is being done about the cockwomble in the Alfa and his dangerous, aggressive, and adversarial driving?
No useful way to know from this report who really done what, but to be fair, if a driver started running at me shouting about detaining me, I might hit him as well. Sounds like a remarkable lot of fussing about sod all, quite why the police bothered is beyond me, except if they were actually standing there it was a nice easy tick for the targets.
As to why they did nothing about the driver - well how hard is that really? In the eyes of our (incredibly stupid) legal system, being a casually bullying thug in a death machine is fine, so long as you cannot be shown to have intended any damage to anyone you happen to have bullied, abused or even injured.
Course the copper was NEVER going to arrest the driver for aggressive dangerous driving ………. This is what happens when the plod are so biased in favour of motons you have to take the law into your own hands.
Sounds like the driver used his vehicle as a weapon to intimidate and endanger the cyclist which of course is an everyday occurrence for which no police officer would ever consider an arrest so it is hardly surprising if some cyclists start taking the law into their own hands.
Given how inconsistent the stories of the driver and the cyclist are, it's hard to know what happened.
"Bromet’s actions were witnessed by a police officer who immediately arrested him"
Indeed, which suggests that it was largely the cyclist at fault... But then you read his version of events and it's wildly different, and of course you have to wonder about police bias against cyclists which is apparently a thing...
All things considered, I'm inclined to think the whole thing was the fault of the cyclist overtaking someone who was trying to turn right. We'd all go mental if a car did that to us, so I don't see why people are leaping to the cyclist's defence.
It happens occasionally, Of course I dislike it, annoying and scary. But is a bike doing it to a car, however silly, really as bad?
I'm also confused as to why a cyclist would overtake on the right handside of a car allegedly indicating to turn right.
I'm also at a loss as to how someone driving a car turning right has ended up behind the cyclist. Has the car driver decided to not turn right and opted to chase after the cyclist in his car? Did both the driver and the cyclist turn right? If they're both turning right, how has the cyclist "cut up" the driver of the car?
What was the driver of the cars real intention when he jumped out of the car and ran at the cyclist? Violence? A kiss and a cuddle? Bike maintenance tips? Sartorial guidance?
Very many questions, very little answers unfortunately. My gut feeling is we are dealing with two people who have potentially made bad decisions in the heat of the moment.
One of them has used a car as a weapon and is completely free to continue doing so as neither the police or the CPS give a flying fuck about doing anything to change that mindset.
The other swung a D-Lock and is now a criminal and has offered an apology for his behaviour.
I've wondered about that too when i've seen it. Last time it was me in the car and the guy didn't even seem to either slow down* or register the presence of any other vehicles or pedestrians..
* that's a guess - if he had slowed down he must have been absolutely smashing it before in a rather small gap, down a hill in basically stationary traffic.
local news site says it was at the junction (well mini roundabout really) with Paddenswick road, and you can see on google maps theyve tried to squeeze two lanes and a bike lane into about 1.5 car widths there,and I can imagine if you are a confident cyclist that taking the route down the hatchings on the righthand side of the cars who maybe queuing to turn right at that point might be an appealing traffic jam shortcut, than just blocking yourself off kerbside and getting stuck the wrong side.
I work on the basis of if a police officer tells me it's daylight outside, I'll find the nearest window to check for myself.
I bet his sentence is harsher than the women in the Q7.
You'd better believe it!. It seems the courts don't consider a car to be a weapon?. This U-lock swinger deserves 3 points, an £80 fine, a £25 victim surcharge, and a 3 month suspended sentence? ...isn't that usually what a car driver gets for doing worse?.
Your being a bit harsh with the suspended sentence.
http://road.cc/content/news/120572-driver-fined-£625-given-five-points-attacking-cyclist-car
I wouldn't be surprised if he was cycling because he's banned from driving.
Twit.