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Justice (Lonpicman, Wikimedia Commons)Two years for motorist who deliberately ran over cyclist before threatening to do so again
A London property developer has been jailed for two years and three months after he deliberately ran over a cyclist in a road rage incident. Clifford Harper then got out of his BMW and told Peter Corfe, “I will run you over again if I have to.”
Mail Online reports that Harper and Corfe had traded insults while in slow-moving traffic in Marylebone, central London on March 31.
Harper then swerved into Corfe, who suffered a broken back as a result of the collision.
Cynthia McFarlane, prosecuting, said one passer-by recalled hearing a male voice saying: “Watch where you're going” and then a car accelerating and a screeching noise.
“That was this defendant's red BMW, deliberately driven by this defendant into the cyclist knocking him off his bike.
“As the witnesses walked over to the cyclist, the driver of the red BMW, the defendant, gets out of his car, walks over to the cyclist and says: 'I'll do it again'.”
Harper left the scene. He was identified from CCTV footage and photographs of the car taken by witnesses.
When arrested on April 12, he told police that scratches on his car that were sustained in the collision 'had been there for years' and offered no comment when shown the CCTV footage.
He subsequently admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving at a hearing earlier this month.
Southwark Crown Court heard that Harper had temporarily 'lost his mind' due to pressure in his personal life.
Sarah Iskarous, defending, said that Harper, the company director of a firm employing 150 people, was the sole provider for his wife and daughter and was paying for the private care of his sick parents. He had been on his way to see an ophthalmologist after being diagnosed with cataracts and has a metal heart valve giving him a current expected life span of six years.
Judge Philip Bartle, QC, said: “I have seen the CCTV of the driving in question. It is truly shocking. There isn't any doubt at all that what you did was to deliberately drive at Peter Corfe.
“As a result of that deliberate intention to drive at Mr Corfe you knocked him off his bike and he fractured his spine. It was, as I say, a deliberate, shocking, appalling piece of driving which has had devastating consequences for Mr Corfe.
“I have read his victim impact statement. He records that he was in excruciating pain as a result of the injuries which you caused. He was in hospital for nine days and it has taken considerable time for him to deal with those injuries.”
After accepting that the incident was out of character and taking into account Harper's health problems and reliant relatives, Bartle sentenced Harper to two years and three months in jail and ordered him to pay £5,000 compensation to Corfe.
He was also banned from driving for three years, handed six penalty points and ordered to take an extended retest.
Commenting on the verdict, Duncan Dollimore, Cycling UK’s Head of Campaigns said:
"If Clifford Harper's annoyance with another road user was all it took for him to lose his mind and fly into a rage, you have to ask whether he has the right temperament to be allowed to carry on driving.
“Merely suspending that entitlement for three years, even with a re-test requirement – which will assess his ability to drive rather than control his temper – sends the wrong message. Why should someone who deliberately drives into someone, threatens to do it again, and then leaves his victim seriously injured on the road, be trusted to behave more rationally in three years’ time?
“Time and time again road safety campaigners from diverse organisations implore the Government to look again at the use of longer and lifetime driving disqualifications. Time and time again nothing happens. Unless and until drivers with anger problem are banned either for life, or until they can show that they have addressed their problem, all road users will continue to be placed at unnecessary risk.
“The Government talks about taking road danger seriously, but if this was the case then we would not still be waiting for its review of all road traffic offences and penalties promised three years ago."
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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51 comments
You could be the more talented lovechild of Lennox Lewis and Steven Seagal; if a blob of life-shortened rage drives into you while you're on a bike, there's not much you can do.
Can someone compile a book of excuses to use in court when hitting a cyclist, together with the resulting sentences....a stocking filler that would definitely sell!!
As the usual excuse of " it was unintentional " can't possibly apply, how is this not something more serious than just "piss poor (I.e. normal) driving"?
About what I expected
Does anyone know how well the victim recovered?
Every time a bullshit excuse is offered as mitigation is it actually required to be proven in the court or can they just invent any old shit and hope they don't get called out on it?
"My client is very sorry as he was visited by aliens and had an anal probe leaving him distraught before this incident occured"
Oh well. There's 2 years out of his 6 done in prison and 3 years of a ban leave him only 1 year to do a resest and get back out there.
It would seem like they don't have to provide much proof about their claims.
Not being British, I’m not familiar with the standard of proof required for the claims of the defence. However, as a physician I can tell you that most people with a valve replacement live for longer than that (12 years on average which means 50% live for even more).
I wondered the same, so are there an road.cc legal types who can better inform us? If nothing else it might come in handy for my defence when I use the bike lock on the next homicidal driver.
I know barristers have a job to do, but judges need to send a two finger salute to them when excuses are used to justify wholly unacceptable behavior. If he is only expected to live for 6 years, then jail him for all 6 and put him at the bottom of the list for surgery options.
How many bloody excuses does the guy have?
Also, if he had been diagnosed with cataracts, why was he allowed to drive? He may be stressed that he might only have 6 years to live, but he nearly killed a cyclist!
Hopefully he doesn’t return to the road after his pitifully short sentence.
I truely hope he dies in prison with a broken bottle up his arse. But not beofore all his family are killed by a speeding BMW driver. Harsh, I know, but I'm just fucking sick of this.
[/quote]I truely hope he dies in prison with a broken bottle up his arse. But not beofore all his family are killed by a speeding BMW driver. Harsh, I know, but I'm just fucking sick of this.
[/quote]
I don't normally agree with violence, but I make an exception in this case. This was attempted murder, and it is only by the grace of whatever deity you worship that the victim isn't dead. I wonder if the driver would have received the same sentence if it was a pedestrian he nearly killed. There must be cases of drivers deliberately driving at pedestrians, I might just do a little research.
I get that you're angry. But talking about violent rape as a means of punishment is pretty offensive, whatever the context. It's an open forum - maybe worth an edit?
More offensive than the legal system deliberately trivialising attempted murder by treating it as a piece of not terribly good driving? Dear gods, even the Daily Masil commenter s can spot that this nutter deserves a proper punishment.
No, not more offensive. But still pretty offensive. There are plenty of ways to talk about how totally broken our justice system is without talking about violent rape as a punishment method.
No you're wrong, venting anger on an open forum and wishing someone ill because people in your group are being murdered and maimed daily by their type is fully acceptable. In fact inciting hatred and killing cyclists is totally okay, as has being witnessed many times in the media by people who are piblicly known.
The 'injustice' system is frankly abhorrent, it has a massive impact on the safety of everyone, not just people on bikes, it lowers the acceptable level of behaviour in society, it allows criminals off scott free, saying that is less offence or equal to someobe venting over a disgusting act/yet another miscarriage of justice is way off the mark!
I don't think its acceptable either. And more likely to harm than help the cause.
I disagree. I don't think it helps to vent anger at one crime by treating another lightly. Part of the reason prison rape is so common (at least in the US) is because people treat it as a jokey punchline. Send killers to prison, but rape is not a legitimate way to punish people.
Even assuming he was just venting, I just don't think that wishing sexual violence on someone is a good way to vent. Look at the amount of rape threats that high-profile women get on social media. I don't think anyone should be contributing towards the normalisation of that kind of language, even when the person you're wishing it on is totally reprehensible.
And, again, I'm not saying that it's more offensive than (or as offensive) as our totally broken justice system. But I do think it's pretty offensive, and unneccesary. And it's not as if wishing rape on someone is going to change the CPS or juries' attitudes towards driving offenses. So all you're doing is making the online world that little bit more toxic.
Anyway, I've said my bit. I'll shut up now.
I'm going to take your impressively reasonable post and shove -
ah no, OK. I getcha. As you were.
How on earth was he only prosecuted for causing injury by dangerous driving.
What about GBH or even attempted murder?
Once again, if the assault had used an iron bar instead of an iron car, the charges would have been entirely different.
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