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news
Justice (Lonpicman, Wikimedia Commons)Road rage footballer who admitted assaulting cyclist avoids jail and driving ban
A former Premier League footballer who pleaded guilty to assaulting a cyclist in a road rage attack, leaving him with a broken wrist, has been given a suspended sentence but has escaped a driving ban.
Jamaica international defender Nyron Nosworthy, who spent five years at Sunderland and now plays for Championship side Watford, was also ordered by Camberwell Green Magistrates' Court to pay the victim £3,300 in compensation.
Nosworthy, aged 33, was driving in London on 13 August last year when he was involved in a collision with cyclist Joe Minihane at a set of traffic lights on Westminster Bridge Road, reports the Watford Observer.
Last week, he admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm, which resulted in Mr Minihane needing a full cast to be put on his arm and facing the prospect of a year's rehabilitation.
Theo Addae, representing the Brixton-born footballer, who was recovering from an Achilles’ tendon injury at the time, recounted how he had been driving to Oxford Circus for an appointment with a physiotherapist.
"He was making his way there, driving down the road, and at traffic lights there was a cyclist intending to go right, but was on the left and cut across the front of Mr Nosworthy's vehicle and a collision occurred."
"He wound down his window to say: 'You cut in front of me,' and the cyclist told him to "F*ck off."
Mr Addae said his client pulled over intending to speak with Mr Nosworthy, who asserted that Nosworthy came up to him in an "aggressive manner."
"At that time verbal abuse was still coming at Mr Nosworthy and he pushed Mr Minihane once only, causing the cyclist to stumble backwards and that stumble caused the injury,” added Mr Addae.
"It was only the unfortunate manner in which the cyclist fell over that caused the injury."
Sentencing him to 42 days’ imprisonment suspended for two years, District Judge Louise Hammond told him: "Road rage offences are regarded by the appeal courts as extremely serious, because of their prevalence on the road and because of the unacceptable nature of them.
"I am of the view that only a custodial sentence is justified, but because of your positive good character, because the injury was not intended and because you pleaded guilty, I'm able to suspend that sentence."
She also accepted a request from not to ban Nosworthy from driving by his lawyer, Theo Addae, who had said: "The impact would be huge i terms of his employment.
"There is a possibility of a loan move. The move will be to the north of the country, and as a result, disqualification would have a huge impact on his employment."
Football players and managers, and the lawyers acting for them, have at times resorted to what to the person in the street may seem unlikely excuses to avoid being banned from driving.
In 2012, Newcastle United defender Danny Simpson dropped a planned appeal against a six-month driving ban. The footballer, now with Queens Park Rangers, had said he was unable to afford a chauffeur, although at the time he was reportedly earning £10,000 a week.
Also in 2012, former Stoke City manager Tony Pulis escaped a driving ban after he claimed that if he were to employ a driver while he himself was disqualified, confidential information such as the club's transfer dealings might be prejudiced.
Pulis had been caught doing 96mph on a stretch of motorway where the speed limit was 60mph.
Citing the business opportunities and jobs that the club's Premier League status brought to the city, his lawyer also argued that "the people of Stoke-on-Trent could suffer if Mr Pulis lost his licence and lost his job."
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
If he's turning right and ahead of car to be able to turn right then it's not cutting across, it's just turning right. The driver shouldn't be overtaking if there's a chance the cyclist might be about to turn right.
Bigger twat assaults cyclist and pretty much gets away with it. Get a grip yourself.
cyclist had made his intention to turn right known,twat in a leathal weapon should of waited
No, not only saints, but if some nobber in a car cuts me up, would it be fine if I then smacked him if he was silly enough to stop? Probably not, and this is worse - this trainee killer has a few tonnes of metal to use as a weapon. Better to stop him now, before he succeeds.
Yes, what's wrong is that your tightly worded summary leaves out the fact that the driver assaulted the person on the bike andhas been convicted for it.
I expect some of your other saintly friends will be along to insinuate that the cyclist "brought it on himself" because he didn't smile and wave at the lovely man that drove into him.
On the other hand, I'm unlikely to forget roadcc has its share of types who enjoy trolling by always finding a way to side with the motorist, even when they are clearly in the wrong.
I don't know about the initial incident - I'm not clear whether the cyclist signalled or not, for one thing. Perhaps he needs to brush up his cyclecraft, I don't know. At that point I'm not clear who is in the right or wrong. Sounds as if both were angry.
However, if cyclists physically assaulted motorists every single time they were cut up by them, I think a large number of pedal-pushers would now be in jail and the Daily Mail would be denouncing the entire breed as psychopaths.
The guy initiated violence in a disagreement that didn't merit it. He's the one who broke the law.
I will say this is far from the worst such case I've heard of - in my opinion a push leading to an injury isn't the same as punching someone in the face, say, or deliberately running someone off the road using a car. Its really not one of those cases that get me fuming about lenient sentences.
Edit - oh and the lack of a driving ban just seems, sadly, par-for-the-course. Seems as if the actual offense itself wasn't commited using the car. There are far more infuriating cases where motorists kill or injure using the car and yet still avoid a driving ban. If those guys don't get one it would be surprising if this guy did. Personally I think at least half of all drivers have no business being behind a wheel, but what can you do?
I heard there were ways to get to Oxford Circus without driving.
Having said that, cutting in front of someone with an immediate 'f-off' follow-through must be one of the quickest and most reliable ways to make friends.
It's a lot quicker to take the tube from Brixton to Oxford Circus and it's a lot cheaper too, seeing how much parking and the congestion charge add up to. Cycling is also cheaper and quicker and better for overall fitness for a sportsman, though there are some real idiots driving cars along that route.
I cannot post what I want to say as there may be minors reading.
"It was only the unfortunate manner in which the cyclist fell over that caused the injury."
So, he'd have fallen without a push then...?
That compensation is ridiculous, won't even be noticed. Should be a couple 100k so that this f**kn*t with anger management issues would feel pain at least in his wallet.
Poor guy had to have rehab for a year!
Huge impact on his employment! Like he might have to catch a train or have a cheufer - sorry, put such mitigating circumstances are pi$$ poor.
Huge impact on his employment! Like he might have to catch a train or have a cheufer - sorry, put such mitigating circumstances are pi$$ poor.
I have to say this seems depressing typical of our non-justice system - this bullying thug has surely demonstrated by his behaviour that he is unfit to have a driving licence. If I behaved like this in a shop queue rather than on the road I'd be in jail, not given some pathetic little telling off. As for the tripe about his job - hey, nobody made you behave like a bullying toerag.
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