No charges for road rage van driver who assaulted cyclist (+ video of incident)

The driver shouldn't have got away with this ... he lied about the incident and only admitted to his guilt after he realised that video evidence made his guilt undeniable.

I can't help chipping into the debate, and have to say that the tone of some of the comments on this thread is way off line. The law is not actually there to punish people and though it seems clear this guy has lied and will not be 'reformed' he might at least be scared by peoples reaction into thinking twice next time; the law is there to make society run smoother.
This is why some of the responses to Stumpy's rather tempered statements have been just wrong and inflammatory. People are posting details of the guy and naming other people who work there^, why? There is an obviously implied threat of revenge attacks. Road.cc isn't that sort of internet forum, at least I thought not. Admin could do a clean up on this thread.
If you haven't been here long enough to have some advise directly from Stumpy then stick around a bit longer and see what is what.

tired old fart wrote:

typical cop response go and do your job cop get of the internet and catch someone in the act of assault ride a bike for a week see what it is like you prick stumpy

(Unless you're retired of course...) Why don't YOU get off the internet and go and do YOUR job? Or does your boss not mind you f*ing about on the internet in the middle of the day?

Hopefully though, the assailant is actually the owner of the business and will loose a huge amount of money thanks to the damage to his reputation. That'll be a decent enough punishment in itself if he looses his home or something.

If the owner of this business has any sense then the employee involved in the ridiculous attack on the cyclist will be suspended/sacked and post a public notice on the website condemning his actions. If not then I can only hope the business goes under, painfully.

Unfortunately the employee is her husband! So she can't really sack him.

What's more, she's in the video - there's a lady passenger early on in it and it is her. So she witnessed the attack as well! Then, she goes and denies she knows him!

So am I right in thinking you can go and assault someone and of you haven't got previous your going to get a slap on the wrist and that's it?!. How on earth can that be right?

It isn't, the police appear to have completely copped out of this, when it should have gone to court.

Oh dear, appalled at some of the comments made, I always beleved in reasoned debate but name calling is frankly juvenile. It can be treacherous riding a bike in the city or countryside at times but at least on here we can be civil in our discussions with each other!

If you can't get the little man for assault, isn't their a case for getting the man in the van for attempted "dooring" which I believe is an offence?

Unbelievable, how easily could this incidence have resulted in the cyclist getting knocked off and potentially killed!! For what!! He should be banned from driving at the very least.

The byline "hands are tied" is simply not true. The police have the option to let him off; that's all. He will certainly strike again now hes been given the green flag.

Well it's obvious the cyclist did nothing wrong, ok, he sounded a horn he has on the bike and gesticulated but that seemed to be enough for the drivers "red mist" to take over. Maybe he had a fight with his missus, boss or as a lot of drivers do see the "skinny" cyclist as a "soft" target. It's hard not to react if its the umpteenth time you've been "cut up" by yet another motorist and your already pumping adrenaline from the ride? You have a typical example of what might happen though if you react in any way. Even if you can handle yourself, have some experience in hand-to-hand defence in cycling shoes with cleats you have no balance. Yes you could have a camera but the driver could have a weapon? Anyone can carry a bat in there car as long as there is a ball accompanying it. Even if you defend yourself, with video evidence and witnesses, if the driver is subdued or even rendered unconscious and hits his head on the ground or suffers a heart attack (let's face it, "flying" in to a road rage and chasing after a cyclist may be the only exercise the usual overweight, stressed and unfit van driver has done in years?) you will find yourself in very "hot water." It is obvious though that most drivers feel they can do this. basically ABH and get away with it and unfortunately in this case the driver received at best a "slap-on-the-wrist?" Now imagine you have no ability in defending yourself, no video camera and there are four, trained in say kickboxing, "burly" and younger men, on a quiet country lane, maybe they don't even understand English and have had a bit to drink? You could literally be kicked-to-death?

Really? What an idiot.

I have to say I rarely if ever under take on my bike . . . I just assume that some fool on a mobile phone will swing open a car or van door without looking. Ride defensive, ride smart. No excuses for this sub-human though.

I'm sure they could have prosecuted him for something if they'd really wanted to (a charge relating to his driving for starters), it's just too much paperwork for them to bother with. As for him admitting the offence - well clearly he didn't until challenged on it twice, the fact he initially lied to the police should negate him being offered any leniency.
Seems he's married to the owner of the business he drives for so I'm guessing he won't be losing his job either, shame.
I hope the victim starts a civil case against him, there's just no way someone should get off with only a caution for such a blatant assault

I think we are all disgusted that this driver has got away with this...but because of helmet cameras, you tube, facebook and Road CC website this incident has been seen by thousands of people which I hope locally it could have a diverse effect on him and his business, lets be thank full the cyclist is still hear to show this incident.

@tired old fart If you want to vent do it somewhere else, we don't moderate comments or the forum and we don't have many commenting rules but not abusing other commenters is one of them.

At those that have been naming people they think might be connected with this company - you'd better be damn sure you're naming the right person and you'd better not name them on this website.

If you want to make your feelings on the matter known to the company do it yourself and don't try and stir up some digital lynch mob to hide behind.

It is a ridiculous set of circumstances that an innocent individual cannot rely on the police and legal system to protect them and even worse for society that we have white man van getting away with such a clearly evidenced assault. I feel terrible for the cyclist and only hope that one day the driver realises what an idiot he is.

Definitely needs to be a bit more calm in here. Getting angry about this sort of thing is entirely natural - my first reaction to seeing that video was "I'd love to stand up to that little man" but I'm not sure how good I'd actually be at that. I'm 31 years old and only once have I been punched in the face as an adult, in a somewhat bizarre and hilarious late night incident.
The closest I've since come to violence has been on the roads.... strange men who seem to think that because they're driving a motorised vehicle, they can treat other road users with utter contempt. Never had a woman driver threaten me with violence, unless she's been in a car driven by her other half, in which case the threats and language have been rather extreme.
Luckily, it doesn't happen too often.

Anyway, the rather long winded point I'm trying to make is that reacting back with anger doesn't do anything to help the situation. It leaves both parties feeling worse. It's really, really hard to do when you've almost been knocked off, but approaching someone in a calm way and telling them that what they just did was wrong can often make people stop and think. Obviously it wouldn't work in this situation; the rider reacted only in fear after being pushed and kicked, didn't have a chance to talk to the crazed idiot.
However, the driver's behaviour shouldn't make us summon up an internet lynch mob. That really doesn't help the cause of road cycling at all.

There's obviously a lot of strong feeling about this and it's easy to see why. If you want to make a real difference why not put together a petition to send to the Home Office suggesting that they amend their guidlines? As pointed out by others already all of this internet bitching doesn't do anything to change the world that we live in.

I remember a similar incident that didn't make the papers. Guy cut up cyclist, stopped car got out and took a swing at him. Chap took the punch and went down. He then stood up, all 6'5" of him and bounced the man of the car bonnet (several times). Oddly the incident was never reported to the police. I happened to be in the group just behind him.

When the Police act like this it is natural that people will seek other means of recourse.

I know of plenty of people taken to court for much less than this. The police/CPS are just plain lazy. To busy polishing their shoes and ironing their shirts so they look nice.

Leave it Stumpy! He ain't wirth it!

Hopefully now Daddy Tony's weighed in all those burning torches can be put out and the pitchforks put away?

The guy should be charged. As for his poor wife - she's got a life sentence already with that little man. Poor woman.

Baffling how the police / CPS / Home Office can get away with this, they seem to be wishing the problem would go away.

This driver will think he can go ahead and do this again.

You only have to see a previous roadcc story to realise what action the police would have taken if the cyclist had clocked the van driver.
http://road.cc/content/news/80715-yorkshire-cyclist-convicted-assault-va...

Probably note even 2nd class citizens

Interestingly, their facebook and twitter accounts have been deleted. I'd imagine they got some quite damaging attention on social media

Can i just point out a couple of points please.

Firstly an Inspector does not have to authorise a caution, its the custody Sgts decision.

Secondly: it depends on the gravity of the offence as to whether you get a caution regardless of previous character. This incident i believe would be a common assault, although very unpleasant its the bottom rung of the assault offence scale.

Finally, all of you on here who have had a pop at the Police in general, thats your opinion and thankfully we still live in a country where these comments can be made. I hold no animosity towards anyone on here, despite some of the comments made, because basically i wont drop to that level.

I enjoy good banter and arguement, its good for the soul, and long may it continue

Defiant and wrong until the end it seems?

"The law is an Ass..."

Meaning:

Said of the application of the law that is contrary to common sense.

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/the-law-is-an-ass.html

I've bookmarked this article for future reference, just in case I end up beating the living **** out of some **** who decides to try it on with me and I end up in trouble for defending myself.

The bloke is a tool but organising a posse to harass a business when it isn't clear that actually is the business invovled, is pretty bad. As for keyboard warriors calling for justice to be meted out, I despair.

Private prosecution please.