A driver has avoided jail after pursuing a cyclist and then knocking him unconscious by assaulting him after previously being cautioned about another incident involving a cyclist.
The driver received a previous caution for a similar attack on a cyclist, and had anger management training as a teenager. However, in the latest case - after knocking out the cyclist in his 50s - the judge told him it was an opportunity to address his anger and deal with it another way.
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The cyclist gestured to the oncoming driver - 30-year-old Jack Rawlins - to give him more space. As the can passed the man on the bike the cyclist's hand banged off the wing mirror of the van.
Rawlins then turned his vehicle around, went after the cyclist and drove into his path. He then got out of his van, with his passenger, and punched the 56-year-old father of three in the face, knocking him unconscious in the incident in Bristol, England, in February.
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Why the cyclist has since recovered and continues to cycle, he said he was anxious on the roads. His wife also suffered from panic attacks if he returned home late. He also concussion and severely bruised ribs as well as headaches and breathing difficulties for months after the assault.
Rawlins, Raleigh Rd, Southville, Bristol, was tracked down through the cyclist's video footage, which clearly captured the name of the company Rawlins was working for. After being contacted by police he told them he had pursued the cyclist to "teach him a lesson".
He was given a two-year suspended sentence and must do 150 hours unpaid work, as well as pay £920 in costs and compensation. Judge Moira Macmillan ordered Rawlins to undergo an anger management course.
