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Statue of Justice, Old Bailey (licensed CC BY 2.0 on Flickr by Ronnie Macdonald).jpgVan driver pleads guilty to assault after rugby-tackling female triathlete on training ride
A professional triathletebelieves missed the chance to make a breakthrough in the sport after a van driver rugby-tackled her while she was out training on her bike, causing a fracture to one of her vertebrae.
The motorist, Martyn Lee, told Caroline Livesey "I thought you were a bloke" after the incident in May this year, reports The Sun.
Lee, a 46-year-old plumber, pleaded guilty at York Crown Court to assault causing actual bodily harm.
Shawn Morales, prosecuting Lee, told the court: "The defendant had been driving along when the complainant, who was at the left side of the road, had moved over to the right to avoid hitting a dog.
"As she pulled across the road, the defendant had to then drive into the middle of both carriageways to narrowly miss Mrs Livesey.
"The complainant said the defendant then drove past her shouting something about 'undertaking' referring to a previous incident of driving down the inside lane.
"Further down the road he had stopped and, as the complainant went past, he rugby tackled her from the bike and she hit the back of her head on the road surface.”
He added: "After the incident, he told her, 'to be honest, I thought you were a bloke'."
Mrs Livesey, aged 38, had been aiming to qualify for the world championships and had been spending 48 hours a week training, having decided to work part-time in her job as an engineer.
Her injuries, which besides a broken sacrum as well as cuts and bruises meant she was unable to run of cycle for eight weeks.
"I have lost earnings - I lost out in prize money for qualification to these events and I am still in part-time employment," she wrote in a victim impact statement read out in court.
"I'm not someone to dwell on things, I'm positive and pragmatic and I have put it behind me and carried on," she added.
In mitigation for Lee, Ayisha Smart told the court: "He says that he merely pulled over further up the road to try and speak to the victim, but the build up of stress he was under at work let his anger get the better of him.
"This is the defendant's first blemish on a record of 46 years."
Recorder Nicholas Barker has ordered Lee to demonstrate he can pay compensation to Mrs Livesey, otherwise he may face jail when he is sentenced on 9 January next year.
She told him: "This was a one-off event, however, it is a very serious matter. In the complainant's statement is the financial impact therefore unusually in the circumstances I am going to defer sentencing."
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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43 comments
This is nothing more than GBH.
Where and why are irrelevant, surely.
Let's hope the Judge sees it that way and issues a custodial.
Nothing less, I think you mean. But yes, a custodial sentence should be a certainty.
'may face jail.' May?!
I find it hard to imagine what kind of person becomes someone who wants to defend pathetic people like this in court, much less stand up in court and speak absolute guff like this.
Ayisha Smart desperately needs to re-evaluate her life choices.
Hey, how else can they afford to pay for their kids' private education?
And you won't be going on 3 foreign holidays or pay for your exclusive apartment/5-bed house by working the tills at Boots, dontchaknow.
Everyone's soul can be bought, it's just that some are keener to sell than others.
Defence lawyers represent any and all kinds of people, some innocent, some guilty, but each of them is entitled to a reasonable defence, and if they didn't get it, that would be a miscarriage of justice. Don't criticise somebody else doing their job to the best of their ability because you don't like the person they are doing their best to defend. How would you like it if you were up in court and couldn't get anyone to defend you because they all thought you were a nasty person? This is an absolute basic human right, and no matter how bad you think the defendant, they have the right to be defended.
Agreed. The right to a fair trial is essential for the law to work.
However, it is another thing entirely to use misleading language in an attempt to airbrush the character of a guilty defendant for no better reason than to reduce his sentence.
I believe the latter is what kitsunegari is alluding to.
They weren't in court and neither were you and it ill behooves you and them to criticise something you know only from third and fourth hand reporting, which may or may not be accurate and is at the very least, only the reporters impression of what happened. What she said was said in mitigation, and presented the best possible view of the driver, THAT'S WHAT SHE'S PAID TO DO, and it seems she did a good job, but you don't like it.
Is it ok if I criticise you for your lack of empathy and your willingness to condemn someone for doing the job they are paid for, based on nothing else than your posts on here? At least they are your posts, not the opinion of someone else who had read your posts and summed what they thought you said.
Yes, the defendant is a despicable human being, but they are still entitled to a defence, otherwise it's mob rule, but perhaps you'd prefer that.
Go ahead. It's open season on rugby-tackling people you disagree with out on the roads so why not give both barrels on here too? Though I don't think I condemned them and, since you don't know me, you won't know anything about my degree of empathy for someone in that position.
Perhaps you'd like to defend the Spanish police for violently attacking apparently peaceful voters in Catalonia too. After all, they were only doing the job they are paid for. Personally I am disturbed by it and feel no 'empathy' for the police. If, as individuals, they don't like beating people up for a job perhaps they should make a career change and sacrifice their job security, excellent pay and pension provisions* (not forgetting the useful connections made through the force, freemasonry and other methods).
* I am making the assumption that Spanish police are treated in a similarly privileged manner as the ones in the UK and most other countries.
That's her job.
Whatever side the lawyer represents they use weasley words to state their case.
In this case the weasley words are so hopefully the judge doesn't give the harshest sentence possible, though the defendant can help with that by appearing sorry and if they pleaded guilty by apologising. Judges however aren't thick ( though some are clearly out of touch ) as they use to do the same job.
I'm imagining a smart lady in a suit sneering those words and peppering them with air quotes while rolling her eyes.
Either that or she goes home and cries herself to sleep.
why not both? - there's no reason for her to limit herself
Fair point, well made.
You can get an idea of the road (Low Wath Road, between Pateley Bridge and Lofthouse) from this route guide.
Since the reports mention two carriageways, I guess the incident happened near Pateley Bridge not up at Lofthouse. Generally, the road isn't quite single track, but it's a fairly narrow country road, with bends. Drivers can overtake, but not everywhere.
It is a good road for cycling, but not traffic-free, and inevitably some people drive too fast.
The Telegraph article someone linked to is interesting, but a bit garbled, suggesting two incidents (undertaking, and dog avoiding), but not quite explaining the order.
Nah, the Daily Mail readers are probably confused as you shouldn't hit a woman unless you have married or procreated with her.
The prosecuter seems to have joined the ranks though on second viewing:
Shawn Morales, prosecuting Lee, told the court:
"Further down the road he had stopped and, as the complainant went past, he rugby tackled her from the bike and she hit the back of her head on the road surface.”
I'm interested in this rugby tackle. Usually in rugby you would tackle low to stop someone moving at speed - if a rider was side on or head on to you then the handlebars, wheel, drivetrain etc. would cause potential damage to you. A higher up the body tackle would normally require more force and is quite a violent collision using the chest and shoulders, the force here should really have been iterated by someone prosecuting. Alternatively it was a clothes line, outlawed from rugby or a simple cheap shot push which has nothing to do with rugby.
If you want to go further, Rugby players are now charged with returning the opponent to the ground safely (especially when someones legas go beyond 90 degrees), given she hit her head, he was stressed et al. I doubt any consideration was given. Again the Rugby analogy goes out of the window. And finally, on the whole, most Rugby tackles are expected and the body responds accordingly, and is trained accordingly both pyhsically and mentally. Have you ever seen anyone rugby tackled when not expecting it - horrible!
I think he's gone for a comparison he thinks will add impact but in the modern day actually reduces it...
"This is the defendant's first blemish on a record of 46 years."
As per the previous comment - was he able to inflict ABH straight from the womb (and keep your smut to yourselves), was he driving his transit at that point.
As for the judge - "She told him: "This was a one-off event"" - seems like she's already starting to side with him. More like, this is the first time you've appeared before a court charged with assault and I'm surprised the judge being a female and the rider also hasn't played a slight part (sorry but these things do have an influence).
Also, why is this not attempted murder given the potential to kill someone by such actions. Isn't premeditaed where the line is normally drawn. Well, checking mirrors, pulling in safely, exiting your vehicle and rugby tackling someone is pretty premeditated...
I did make the mistake of looking at the Sun comments, and to be honest, there are a lot of people on there that I would have no hesitation in banning from driving.
But, somewhat incredibly, the comments on the DM site are almost the exact opposite, with massive support for the cyclist and condemnation of the driver http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4962776/Road-rage-motorist-smash...
Have I finally gone through that wormhole and emerged in a parallel universe?
damn you, you made me read the Daily Mail!
I'm developing a theory that the gene which codes for blimpish fascism and cyclist hatred also codes for amusing mis-spellings:
"I don't particularly like cyclists but this is beyond the pail"
"I'm not a lover of the Lycra lot but I always give them a wide birth ". That'd be the helmet, I suppose.
"Shawn Morales, prosecuting Lee, told the court: "The defendant had been driving along when the complainant, who was at the left side of the road, had moved over to the right to avoid hitting a dog.
"As she pulled across the road, the defendant had to then drive into the middle of both carriageways to narrowly miss Mrs Livesey."
No he didn't. He could have slowed down or stopped.
This isn't a pedantic point but (I think) the crux of the problem with drivers, the feeling that they must under all circumstances keep going and drive around any potential problem
No you should be travelling far enough back and at a speed that allows you to stop if the vehicle in front stops dead, or someone or in this case a dog runs out.
and yes it does apply to cyclists, but in this case she was only avoiding a dog, the driver was avoiding a dog AND overtaking at the same time
what an absolute prick
Surely that deserves a jail sentence... Pretty disgraceful.
I made the mistake of going on The Sun website. Hard to believe those comments come from the same species who are able to send rockets into space then land them in reverse on a barge in the ocean.
life.jpg
Yeah the quotes on The Sun website are utterly beyond belief. Some pretty experienced oxygen theives may read the Sun.
Apparently all cyclists need to wear helmet and gloves for their own protection..... I would be willing to place money on she was wearing helmet and possibly wearing gloves as anyone who ever races in a triathlon is requried to wear a helmet, and most people train as if they were racing.
I doubt a helmet and gloves would have prevented a fractured vertebra..... but then again it might have been a magical unicorn horn helmet which makes the rider invulnerable......
I am just gobsmacked.
If the cyclist hadn't avoided the dog, no doubt the same twat would have lamped her for being cruel to animals.
Still, let's be grateful that it is now ok to hit cyclists only if you think they are male.
I'm shocked that he thought saying 'I thought you were a bloke' would somehow justify it. Some people really have such a shitty attitude towards other humans.
My great publicity for Harrogate in run up to the Worlds
"This is the defendant's first blemish on a record of 46 years."
Can you claim an unblemished 46-year record if you are only 46 years old? At least we know he didn't randomly attack a stranger as a toddler...
Mitigation reaches new lows.
Thanks HalfWheeler. I too don't understand why one of the nicer things in the world gets used as a hate word. Is it like calling good things sick? Think of him a a diseased lamprey, a guinea worm or a Gonococcus.
Both of these people are victims of the Sun, Mail etc .
UK brain poison, turning normal folk into zombies.
Yeah, a total WTF moment. "The defendant had to drive into the middle of both carriageways"... because he was an impatient dickhead with an inferiority complex... and luckily, narrowly missed Mrs Livesey.
If I was walking down the high street and decided to randomly rugby tackle a woman to the ground, the same arseholes making anti-cyclist comments on the Sun article would be calling for me to be strung up for attacking a woman. These same arseholes probably think Wiggins is ace because he plasters himself in the Union flag and has a camper van with RAF roundels on the headrests.
It's actually getting genuinely quite worrisome, the level of hatred for someone just because they've swung their leg over a bike.
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