Terrifying moment driver chases motorbike in road rage attack before smashing him off his bike
THIS is the terrifying moment a driver chased a motorcyclist in a road rage attack before knocking him off his bike.
Pensioner Graham Robinson, 69, from Kinmel Bay, North Wales, has been jailed for eight months today after pleading guilty to dangerous driving and obstructing the police.
The road rage pursuit was captured on his Renault Kadjar’s dashcam.
Prosecuting barrister Rosemary Proctor told Caernarfon Crown Court how on the afternoon of August 5 a woman had been in the front room of her bungalow when she heard a “terrific bang” outside.
Her garden was in disarray, the fence broken, a blue car in vegetation, and a motorbike on the ground.
Minutes before, Robinson had been crossing the bridge from Rhyl to Kinmel Bay and Liam Guest was behind him on a motorbike in slow-moving traffic.
“Precisely what next transpired is disputed,” counsel said.
Mr Guest had overtaken the defendant but Robinson’s window was down and the pensioner allegedly called him a “p***k” and spat.
During the bust-up, the prosecution said the defendant had shouted: ”I am going to knock you off your bike.”
A pursuit then ensued with Robinson’s dashcam showing he reached 50mph on side roads and 40mph on a dirt track where he collided with the motorcyclist.
Miss Proctor said car valeter Mr Guest was cut and grazed and later complained of pain and flashbacks.
Robinson had at first lied to police that his dashcam was broken and not in his car.
“There was a substantial risk of danger in particular to Mr Guest and those in their gardens next to the dirt path,” the prosecutor added.
Simon Killeen, defending, said Robinson lived with his wife and was under additional stress because of her illness at the time.
“What he did was completely out of character,” the barrister said. “He’s highly unlikely to be back before this court again.”
Robinson claimed Mr Guest had struck his wing mirror but the defendant made the “appalling” decision to pursue him afterwards, Mr Killeen added.
Judge Timothy Petts said there was strong personal mitigation and he didn’t pose a risk to the public.
But he told the pensioner he’d used his car “as a weapon against a vulnerable road user.”
A three years and four months driving ban was imposed with an extended re-test.
Judge Petts said Robinson had reacted “in a grossly disproportionate way” when the dispute with Mr Guest began.
He’d driven after the bike, going along hatched lines in the middle of the road, reaching up to 50mph, and getting close behind the motorcyclist.
Then Mr Guest left the main coast road.
But it didn’t deter Robinson, the judge said.
He was followed through residential streets, Robinson failing to observe “give way” markings and crashing into Mr Guest on the track and into the fence.
Judge Petts said “the best part of £3,000 damage” was caused to the fence.
He added: “For anyone to use their car as a weapon as you were doing to settle a grudge with a more vulnerable road user is highly dangerous and the sentence has to reflect that.
“You were driving completely out of control.
“It’s no thanks to you the injuries were not more serious than they were.”