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news
Statue of Justice, Old Bailey (licensed CC BY 2.0 on Flickr by Ronnie Macdonald).jpgRoad rage driver who told cyclist he “shouldn't even be in the road” fined
A driver who told a cyclist he “shouldn't even be in the road” and smashed his phone has been fined £100 and banned from driving for eight weeks.
Sylvanna Hall, from Patchway, was also ordered to pay £250 in compensation to Jan Laffan for the damage to his phone after the road rage incident on St Mark’s Road, Easton, on 29 December last year, reports the Bristol Post.
Hall, aged 33, admitted causing criminal damage when she appeared at Bristol Magistrates' Court on July 2 and admitted criminal damage to a £250 phone owned by cyclist Jan Laffan.
Summarising the case, District Judge Lynne Matthews told the court: “The defendant was said to have shouted, 'Get out my way, you're on a bike, you shouldn't even be in the road’.”
Hall encountered Mr Laffan about 10 minutes later, whereupon the driver stopped her car, got out, and threatened to “f*ck [him] up.”
Mr Laffan, who had started recording the encounter on his mobile phone, was said to have headbutted Hall, who responded by punching him.
Hall then “took the victim's phone, deliberately dropped it to the ground and smashed it,” the judge said.
Defending Hall, Dianne Heys said: “She does go into the bus lane and accepts she was angry, but in terms of the physical confrontation, he headbutts her, she reacts to that and hits him.
“He is videoing her, she doesn't want to be photographed or videoed, she takes the phone, he tussles with her to get it back, and it falls to the floor. She denies it was a deliberate throw.
“It's clear things got somewhat out of hand,” Ms Heys added. “Ms Hall’s children were in the back of the vehicle. They are aged 11 and eight, and she is the sole carer of those children.
“She works as a support worker, she works very hard and has some support from her mother, but essentially it's just her and her children. She has never been in trouble before.”
In a victim impact statement, Mr Laffan said he is now nervous about riding on St Mark’s Road and Stapleton Road.
He said: “The route I travelled is the one I usually go to visit family and friends. This has made it very stressful to travel that route and I have started avoiding it. This has added extra time to my journey.
“Stapleton Road can be stressful anyway with regard to traffic, and this has made it even more so,” he said.
The judge told Hall: “When parents behave in a reprehensible manner in the presence of children, the children learn that type of behaviour is acceptable, and clearly it's far from acceptable.
“You have reflected on your behaviour and entered a guilty plea today. I give you full credit for that.”
The defence had said in mitigation that imposing a driving ban on Hall would cause her problems related to caring for her children.
In response, the judge said: “I accept that, but it is something you think of before committing an offence, not after.”
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
"she is the sole carer of those children" - Not surprised
“She works as a support worker" - Doesn't everyone.. except me
"She has never been in trouble before." - they all say that. Never been caught
" imposing a driving ban on Hall would cause her problems related to caring for her children." - So parents can behave as they like. As a father of two, that's good to know
In response, the judge said: “I accept that, but it is something you think of before committing an offence, not after.”
Hallelujah!!!
I now wish for two things...
1. (Sir) Chris Boardman (yes I know he's not a Sir, but I think he should be, so actually we better make it three things I wish for!) to be the made the Walking & Cycling Commissioner for the entire nation (yes including the devolved ones!)
2. District Judge Lynne Matthews to be made Lord Chief Justice.
Perhaps then we might one day achieve a situation where can all cycle safely on decent infrastructure, and if/when drivers behave recklessly around cyclist they can expect to receive actual punishment.
He is in my book.
Can he just skip 'Sir' and go straight to 'Emperor of Mankind'?
Best thing I've read in a long time
Have we witnessed the birth of a new Folk Hero? Judge Lynn Matthews-Dredd. This sentencing seems pretty sensible, especially the failure to pander to the 'hardship' defence- which the shyster lawyer always deploys.
The rules on hardship were tightened up last year, this sort of ruling should be the norm now.
https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/explanatory-material/magistrates-co...
The rules on hardship were tightened up last year
Great news, but are they sticking to the rules? I will now be looking out for successful joke hardship mitigation claims: if he pays this fine he will be unable to fulfil the requirements of the BW leasing agreement, and is the sole carer for the person he loves most in the world, himself etc.
Good to see that. The idea that your offence is treated more lentiently because it might actually have an impact on you is surely bonkers.
She should have played a more specific mental health card. That seems to work. Always become the victim of the actual victim...
Just a reminder that any comments referencing contentious political issues unrelated to this story will be deleted.
Damn! I had a long diatribe written in the purplest of prose, explaining the forthcoming fall of capitalism in a people's revolution that would see cars banned except for the disabled.
Is that a new rule?
Hallelujah, praise Brian!
I'm not
Splitter!
Googling "Judge Lynne Matthews" provides a good few minutes amusement. She seems to have an uncommon amount of common sense.
He headbutted her? Seems neither party covered themselves in glory in this incident.
What the hell is the matter with people?
" Hall encountered Mr Laffan about 10 minutes later, whereupon the driver stopped her car, got out, and threatened to “fuck him up". "
She assaulted him and he may well have reacted in self defence - doesn't appear he was charged with anything.
The headbutting allegation appears to come solely from the accused and the defence and was clearly not taken seriously by the police or CPS or it would be the cyclist on a charge. "He/she started it and I was just responding" is a default defence for those charged with assault.
I'm in agreement with hirsute.... she went looking for a fight then tries to use the fact that he reacted to her threats as a defence.
It's a typicall bully trait in that they start the altercation normally with verbal threats, posturing and faking attacks on their target and when their target retaliates they try to play the victim card.
"It was said", which suggests that there was no corroboration. May have happened, or may not. The case in front of the judge however seems to have been fully accepted.
Finally a judge with a little bit of courage. What are the chances that the Judge might be a regular cyclist? Or am I being cynical.
I still think it is a relatively lenient sentence. The woman should at least be given some form of anger management course too. I mean it is understandable to feel aggrieved and angry at the time of an incident but to still be road raging 10 minutes after it to the extent where you stop your car and attack someone shows serious anger issues.
And I would question whether her temprement is suitable for the job that she is doing. I'm not sure that I would want a support worker who has such anger issues that stay in her mind for such a long period of time. I could say it might only be a matter of time when one of the people she is tasked with caring for is on the receiving end of her outbursts.
It's an interesting standpoint of the Judge saying "I accept that, but it is something you think of before committing an offence, not after." I just wish more judges had the courage to apply that kind of reasoning to all of the hardship, it's the first time I've been caught for this, this was out of character for me, I was having a bad day BS that drivers are able to use with impunity to get a more lenient sentence.
Previous good character (never been caught before) combined with hardship is a white middle class defence against driving bans, we can see here it is not available to everyone.
No I am not. the defence is there for people who are both white and middle class.
Just like if I write red ferarri I am not confusing car make with colour, I am describing a ferrari which happens to be red
So now you class "Unemployed" and living off Universal Credit as wealthy?
https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/15346720.man-caught-without-ins...
You've used this phrase a lot recently. I'm trying to decide if I detect irony, hitherto unspotted.
He knows it gets a reaction and diverts the thread.
Totally consistent with his normal posts.
"She has never been in trouble before" - weird how driver / cyclist encounters are always the assailant's first time.
First time getting caught more like. This is a learned and practised behaviour.
I think you are right there David. You just need to look at the comments in the Bristol Post article. Apparently she has a reputation for being vile and nasty in general and makes her neighbours life hell.
There is actually a pretty good chance she will actually lose her job. It's a criminal conviction and as a social care worker she should have a requirement to disclose the conviction to her employers and they should take into account the "degree of risk posed to patients/clients"
So given the nature of the incident it might be an instant dismissal event
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