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Statue of Justice, Old Bailey (licensed CC BY 2.0 on Flickr by Ronnie Macdonald).jpg77 year old driver rains punches on cyclist who went wrong way round bollard
A pensioner motorist who brutally beat a cyclist who irritated him by going the wrong way round a bollard has been suspended from driving and fined.
77 year old Brian MacDonald, from Doncaster, was driving in Scarborough when he spotted the cyclist, who he then verbally abused as he rode in a bus lane.
Scarborough Magistrates’ Court heard last week that MacDonald then stopped at a traffic light, and the cyclist caught up with him, pulling just in front of his Hyundai IX35, in which MacDonald’s wife was also travelling.
Katy Varlow, prosecuting, said: “With a long queue of traffic behind him, MacDonald nudged forward until the victim was slightly under the car,” according to Scarborough News.
“MacDonald then got out of his vehicle, which was also carrying his wife, and started repeatedly punching the cyclist.”
The pensioner hit the cyclist eight or nine times to the neck, face and helmet, without any response to his attack.
When the cyclist moved to grab they car keys from the ignition, MacDonald was further angered and punched the cyclist to the floor.
Another driver had to separate the pair.
The cyclist only had minor injuries after the incident.
Robert Vining, mitigating, said: “Mr MacDonald bitterly regrets his actions. If anyone could come into court and rely on good character, it is Mr MacDonald. He lost his temper but he is not prone to this.”
The magistrate Philip Catterall said: “This was a case of road rage. You used your vehicle to move forward on to the cyclist before repeatedly punching him in an aggressive manner. Because this is your first time in court and due to your good character a community order would serve no good for you.”
The driver was also fined £220, ordered to pay £150 compensation, a victim surcharge of £30 and costs of £85.
Last year we reported a similar penalty for an Edinburgh taxi driver who was caught on camera cutting up a cyclist before later swinging a punch at him.
City Cab driver Brian Allen, 69, had already been fined £360 plus costs and had his driving licence endorsed with nine penalty points following the incident, and later had his licence suspended.
Helmet cam footage showed Allen passing a cyclist closely triggering an exchange of words. He then drove ahead and got out of his vehicle to wait with his fist raised in the middle of the road.
The taxi driver admitted one charge of driving without due care and attention or reasonable consideration for others and a second assault charge when he appeared in Edinburgh Sheriff Court on April 14. The BBC reported that he was admonished and dismissed for the assault charge.
City of Edinburgh Council then suspended his licence.
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23 comments
Well that's just not fair!
(Oh, wait, sorry, not sure what came over me there...)
If upstanding members of the public, people of 'good character' cannot confront the antisocial scum who plague our streets when Police turn a blind eye. When those who are brave enough to take action while others cower in fear, themselves become persecuted by a legal system that appears intent on supporting the rights of the criminal over the good order of society. Then I think our country is doomed. I mean, cycling the wrong side of a bollard! Just what did the cyclist expect?
There's a pinch point on the way out of my village, pedestrian refuge with 'stay left' bollard a, and cars regularly overtake on the wrong side of the bollard rather than wait for me to go through. Am I allowed to exact revenge/justice upon them for this heinous crime (if I can catch them)?
Only if you are of good character* and only if you are driving a car.
*As you ride a bicycle, you are unlikely to qualify.
An old twat is still a twat.
When I were a lad, you'd take a beating off your elders and be glad of it.
No doubt if the cyclist had beaten the pensioner it would be hell and damnation for him. I'm not quite sure why people seem to view elderly people as benign, as shit people are still shit people as they age.
I still don't understand how a violent assault can be considered a driving offense. This country is messed up.
The Driver is really lucky he didn't try this on a young rider with a simiar temproment to himself. I wonder if the rider had returned a couple of salvo's and hospitalised him, if that would still be considered 'road rage' or a GBH charge would be levied?
It wasn't. He was charged with assault. What kind is not clear from any of the reports. Might be ABH, could be common assault.
How can I find this man's address? It mentions Doncaster, but will the court documentation provide more detailed information?
I doubt you'll be able to find out from the Court; you may get more of a clue from the local press report, or else hit up the Electoral Register at the local council offices or a Doncaster telephone book. These days, social media may well "out" him (since he's a pensioner, doxing may be unlikely - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doxing).
So if I'd witness this driver exceeding the speed limit I can drag him from his car and beat him and the only thing I need to worry about is having my drivers licence removed, good I'm glad that's clear.
If you attack somebody in the pub do you get your driving licence removed also ?
The old guy got off lightly, behave like this enough times and you come across the wrong person.
Never hit anyone in my life, but after having read all those kind of articles over the last years, not sure how I would react if anyone got out their car and attempted to hit me. One thing is sure the penalty for a cyclist reacting would probably be more severe, than the one the attacker ever receives.
The yardstick is pretty straightforward. No previous convictions. That's all.
This person is of previous good character. It won't have made a huge amount of difference to the sentence overall.
I am troubled by the lack of a community penalty here though. His inability to cause an injury effectively played in his favour.
So 'good character' just means ' not found out'.
I don't know what yard stick they use to evaluate "good character", but I think it's broken.
“The best index to a person's character is how he treats people who can't do him any good, and how he treats people who can't fight back.” Abigail Van Buren
It sounds like what they always say about dogs when they savage children. "Oh, he wouldn't hurt a fly!"
Then they kill the dog.
Are you suggesting we re-instate the death penalty for rabid old men who can't control their temper?
If so, where can I vote for you? :p
Drives into someone and then attempts to beat the shit out of them, apparently only failing because he's old, or inept, or both.
For that he gets his license suspended for a year, apparently because he's old.
Can't wait til I'm old.
Disgusting behaviour... It's worrying how road rage against cyclists is increasing. As a roadie, it certainly feels that way from my perspective.
Not sure trying to grab someone's car keys is a good idea though!
Glad the old boy was banned from driving. The old toe-rag should know better at his age.
I'd say that verbally and physically attacking a complete stranger - even as supposedly a one off and because you didn't like their driving/riding - does not demonstrate 'good character ' at all...
It should be a revoking of his driving licence until a full psychiatric assessment (paid for by him) has been carried out. Plus a (paid for by him) attendance at an officially accredited Anger Management Course.
Age is not a barrier for a prison sentence, even a suspended one. As Rolf Harris found out
Harold Shipman was of previously good character until....
All these men of 'good character' punching vulnerable road users.
Sound like wife beaters to me.