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news
Statue of Justice, Old Bailey (licensed CC BY 2.0 on Flickr by Ronnie Macdonald).jpgPensioner convicted of assaulting cyclist gets driving licence back on appeal
A pensioner convicted of assaulting a cyclist and banned from driving or 12 months has been given his driving licence back after appealing the decision to the it away from him.
Brian Macdonald, aged 77, was found guilty last month at Scarborough Magistrates’ Court of assaulting the 26-year-old cyclist, who had reportedly annoyed him by going the wrong side of a traffic island.
> 77 year old driver rains punches on cyclist who went wrong way round bollard
He was banned from driving for 12 months, fined £220 and told to pay £150 in compensation to the cyclist as well as court costs of £85.
At the original trial, magistrates were told by prosecutor Katy Varlow: “With a long queue of traffic behind him, Macdonald nudged forward until the victim was slightly under the car.
“Macdonald then got out of his vehicle, which was also carrying his wife, and started repeatedly punching the cyclist.”
Ms Varlow added that the cyclist, who was punched eight or nine times, did not hit back but tried unsuccessfully to grab the keys from the vehicle, an action that prompted more punches from Macdonald.
Another driver intervened to separate the pair.
Allowing an appeal at York Crown Court against the driving ban and the compensation order, Recorder Eric Duff said that Macdonald’s actions were due to the stress brought on by the incident, reports Scarborough News.
The appeal against the conviction and fine for assault and award of costs were rejected.
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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48 comments
Exactly. Never been caught before would be my opinion rather than never been in bother. People don't get to 77 and decide they'll start fronting up to people 50 years their junior for minor traffic infractions.
Then again we don't know much about the 'cyclist'. Maybe if things were seriously threatening I'd resort to taking a bite out of people but it would be last resort stuff. The cyclist could have been a heroin addict on a stolen Sports Direct bike for all we know. Like anywhere these days Scarborough has it's fair share of rabble.
Nevertheless, violence is violence, regardless of the character and background. I err on the side of the cyclist. Mr Thug was in his metal box where he should have stayed.
They do if they are experiencing low blood sugar levels and have an underlying untreated medical condition more common in older aged people,it doesn't excuse it of course but the 'didn't know what came over me' response isn't unusual and not necessarily untrue.
Why the compensation was quashed is prob of more importance to understand
Which would suggest he is unfit to drive surely?
quite possibly, Im not the guys doctor, just highlighting its perfectly possible for someone with no prior violent behavioural issues at all, to fly off the handle like this, due to changes they may not even be fully aware of, happening to their physiology in later life... we simply dont know, the Scarborough news does publish some details, it mentions the driver has several medical conditions, but it really doesnt cover the case in enough detail to say if those played a part, or were relevant.
If I am having an episode with a motorist, regardless of who's fault it was initially, and said motorist is holding my face and punching me, and one of his pinkies finds it's way into my mouth, I will bite down on it, with extreme force!
As others have pointed out, the reporting doesn't give a clear indication of what led up to the incident. The fact that the criminal is a "former publican" would make you assume he is not unfamiliar with violence and if hasn't "been in bother" I bet he knows a lot about it. At 77, you would think you would be very careful to hang on to your driving licence, and not go to such extreme lengths to almost ask for it to be taken off you. I can't believe he is safe to be driving.
I totally agree. I also can't help but imagine that if someone had grabbed me by the face and started punching me, I'd probably try to bite them too if I got the opportunity
I read this story last time around on road.cc, and I thought then as I think now: 'I don't really understand what happened.'
The wrong side of a traffic island? In what circumstances? And how did this end up in an old duffer duffing someone up? Slightly under the car? What does this mean?
I understand all the individual words, but they do not give me an overall picture of the incident.
Will somebody please think of the traffic island. That's the real victim here.
Seriously i'd have just decked the old get.
Bored of this crap now just because you think your car gives you a god given right to behave like a twat in public.
Moral of story: if you're being assaulted and think you can resist, do so. Pensioner or not. Chin him. Hard.
I agree. Either we need legal penalties for these sorts of incidents or people like this pensioner need to run the risk of a good thrashing for behaviour like this when they pick on the wrong person. It's not very PC but a good thump on the chops was all that was really needed here.
Of course the victim here wasn't able to deliver that sort of justice and the syshas also failed them going down the legal route.
"Allowing an appeal at York Crown Court against the driving ban and the compensation order, Recorder Eric Duff said that Macdonald’s actions were due to the stress brought on by the incident" So not only did he deliberately drive into a cyclist but he's now lwet off compensating him for the assault he subjected the victim to. FFS. Does anyone know how to lobby the CPS to get them to appeal this travesty.
Stress brought on by the incident? In anyone other than an old duffer we call that road rage and treat it as an aggrevating factor.
Why would you appeal such a light sentence, you've assault somebody in the street. you should be doing time in the big house, with a large gentleman named Susan....
I just hope you try it on again with somebody more likely to defend themself next time you old fucker, perhaps you'll die and do us all a favour.
"Due to the stress brought on by the incident " - oh for the love of ... Sometimes words fail me
Do I have this right - his excuse for punching a defenceless man was the stress caused by the incident that he caused? Does this work if you're not a driver?
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