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news
Benedict Cumberbatch at 2016 San Diego Comic Con International (licensed CC BY-SA 2.0 on Wikimedia Commons by Gage Skidmore)Benedict Cumberbatch “slapped” by cyclist he knocked off bike while driving his Lamborghini
A cyclist slapped a Lamborghini driver who had knocked him off his bike on the Isle of Wight – and then discovered that the motorist was none other than Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch.
The incident happened last September on a country lane near Freshwater, reports The Sun.
The cyclist, 63-year-old retired fisherman Michael Lawrence – known to his friends as Scooby – raised his arm to protect himself but was left bleeding after the wing mirror of the actor’s Lamborghini Urus 4x4 hit him.
One of his friends told the newspaper: “Scooby was on his brand new bike when the car appeared out of nowhere. There was literally nowhere else in the road to go.
“He just put his arm over him and took the full force of the impact on his forearm, which smashed the wing mirror. It totally ruptured his arm. There was blood everywhere.
“Scooby is no shrinking violet and he bloody hurt him by the sounds of it.”
Cumberbatch, aged 42 and who is said to have a second home on the island, is reported to have got out of his vehicle and told Lawrence: “You were in the middle of the road!”
The friend continued: “Scooby dusted himself off and, full of adrenaline, reacted as he knows best — by slapping him. That posh actor was lucky he didn’t throw a punch.
“Apparently it was like a slow-motion moment in a film where the man he just slapped took off his baseball cap, and he realised it was Benedict Cumberbatch. Scooby said he nearly had a heart attack.”
Cumberbatch – who reported the collision to police but is reported not to have wanted to press charges regarding the subsequent slap – gave Lawrence a bottle of water and a T-shirt so he could clean the wound, and offered to drive him to hospital.
Despite the pair exchanging telephone numbers, Lawrence has not heard from the actor since. “He’s miffed he hasn’t been in contact yet,” his friend said. “He said he was lucky to be alive.
“Despite everything, he thought Cumberbatch was all right — a bit posh, but all right.
Lawrence is now reportedly seeking compensation, and when asked by The Sun about the incident said: “I’m sorry but I can’t talk about it.”
Hampshire Police confirmed that the incident had been reported, and said: “No complaints were made, no criminal offences were investigated and the matter is being dealt with through insurance.”
It’s the second time in a year that an incident involving Cumberbatch and a cyclist has come to light several months after it happened.
Last June, it emerged that in November 2017 he jumped out of an Uber he was travelling in with his wife to come to the defence of a Deliveroo rider who four muggers were attempting to rob.
> "Superhero" Benedict Cumberbatch foils attack on Deliveroo cyclist
Uber driver Manuel Dias said: “My passenger jumped out, ran over and pulled the men away. They turned towards him and things looked like getting worse, so I joined in.
“He stood there instructing them in the street, shouting, ‘Leave him alone’.
“It was only then I recognised Benedict. Then it all got a bit surreal. Here was Sherlock Holmes fighting off four attackers just round the corner from Baker Street.”
He continued: “I had hold of one lad and Benedict another. He seemed to know exactly what he was doing. He was very brave. He did most of it, to be honest.
“They tried to hit him but he defended himself and pushed them away. He wasn’t injured. Then I think they also recognised it was Benedict and ran away.
“Benedict was courageous, brave and selfless. If he hadn’t stepped in the cyclist could have been seriously injured.
“He asked the rider how he was and when he said, ‘I’m OK’ Benedict just hugged him.
“The cyclist was lucky, Benedict’s a superhero,” he added.
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.
Latest Comments
- brooksby 1 min 9 sec ago
But a very glamorous pig, nonetheless
- chrisonabike 15 min 1 sec ago
"Encouraging cycling" with the standard UK success rate*?...
- hawkinspeter 25 min 54 sec ago
I've seen quite a few similar style of connections on electronic devices that need to have some kind of waterproofing. I've bought a couple of...
- Andrewbanshee 1 hour 29 min ago
Revenge, hmm well I have told my wife that if I am killed by a drivist, please drive over them and say that they appeared from nowhere.
- Chris RideFar 8 hours 58 min ago
I know that in independent tests on 10 and 11 speed chains, the SRAM chains always came out bottom in terms of drivetrain efficiency. Lots of...
- quiff 9 hours 4 min ago
The comparison was between two things never intended to be used on a bike.
- chrisonabike 10 hours 22 min ago
Well, send us a review when you've cycled it!...
- Backladder 11 hours 45 min ago
Since the driver used similar language it in not "likely" that he was caused harrasment alarm or distress by having it returned to him. (IANAL)
- underworld99 15 hours 35 min ago
Some more local knowledge :...
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29 comments
Who?
Bandersnatch Crinklyanus
At least he's easy to find
Buntisland.jpeg
So this story, that appeared as the Sun front page headline, was basically gleaned from a 'mate' of the victim. No actual comment from 'Scooby' or Beneficial Cummerbund. Plus the incident happened over 6 months ago.
I'm sure the truth is in there somewhere, but the fog that surrounds it is too thick to really have an opinion. Rich, feted Brit actor acts in arrogant, overpriviliged manner is hardly news!
Surely history tell us cyclists have always 'appeared from nowhere'? Seems to be an accepted fact in most courts.
Surprise surprise sometimes there are things in the middle of the road!
I am a fan of Beneficial Cumberslap
i really don’t understand why people so consistently manage to get his name so wrong all the time. It must be quite upsetting for the poor lad.
It’s perfectly simple: Benelux Marklesnatch.
So please, please repeat it until you get it right: Boniface Cunnithatch, Bermondsey Colneyhatch, Birmingham Colourswatch, Bellylick Bottomscratch, ...
See? Easy isn’t it?
Beneblind Asabat needs some decent PR, mefeels. And a stiff fine.
I feel as if the two stories above approximately cancel-out, leaving me with no strong opinion on Bumbaclart Crimbobotch
Just surprised that Cumbersnatch wasn't driving a range rover, tis usual status symbol of them upstairs. Clearly Cucumberbutty is doing quite well at this acting lark.
Didn't he smash up a Lambourghini in that Dr Strange documentary?
This story sounds like it needs some thorough investigation
8809702e59520aaa352446052dba07e9.jpg
https://www.buzzfeed.com/genamourbarrett/times-the-internet-had-zero-res...
I don't think we know enough of this incident to make any conclusions. Who was moving ? The car ? The bike ? Both ? Which direction ?
I'm not quite sure how anyone driving a private car that is over 2m wide round the lanes of the Isle of Wight has any moral highground from which to claim that other road users are in the middle of the road.
According to Wikipedia, the Lamborghini Urus is 16 feet 9 inches long, 6 feet 7 inches wide, and 5 feet 4 inches tall!? Surely that basically IS the Isle of Wight???
(From the Wikipedia page for the Lamborghini Urus:
Length 5,113 mm (201.3 in)
Width 2,017 mm (79.4 in)
Height 1,638 mm (64.5 in))
Careful young man, for you enshitten the good name of my birthplace.
Just another arsehole in a vehicle too powerful for their existing skillset. Just because you can afford it...
Oh, and having your arse handed to you on a plate by a man whose arm you have just "ruptured"...
yes, but think of the advantages - you’re a copper who stops him for some minor infraction like driving over a district nurse while she’s cycling to an old peoples’ home to deliver a premature baby, and faced with having to write out a ticket for Bananaboat Crumplezone driving an aubergine Lamborghini Haemorrhoid Pistachio, you’re going to give up there and then and just say ‘Move along, sir, and mind how you go next time, please’.
Very true.
Although it's not solely about horsepower but about perceived power. It costs such an outrageous amount he was under the impression that he'd also paid for exclusive rights to the road.
Another entitled arsehole, I'd say he's lucky to have got off with a slap.
£150k bah mere chicken feed to a man of Barbituate Cragglethatch's standings.
You were in the middle of the road! Like my career!
I'm always puzzled by the "but you were in the middle of the road!" defence.
So, you saw the rider. You saw their position. And you decided that, rather than apply the brakes and steer away from them, to simply crash into them.
Always two sides to every story though. Be interesting to hear the other.
I always think that when I see/hear a motorist sounding their horn at a pedestrian who's either simply crossing the road some distance ahead, or who is dashing across last second as the crossing lights are changing.
What is the motorist intending to do? They've seen the pedestrian, so why not simply ease off the accelerator and - you know - NOT run them over? Why bother sounding the horn at all?
Why indeed. I'm not sure that there's any legitimate use for a horn.
A driver can always lean out of, or actually get out of, their car and speak to another driver.
It seems a shame that there are no cars currently availablle with hinged front windows (think proper Landrover) so that you can politely ask the cyclist in front of you to allow you to briskly take your dilated relative/friend to the maternity hospital.
“You were in the middle of the road!”
I imagine if you're driving a Lamborghini Uranus around the Isle of Wight, you're pretty much always in the middle of the road.
Beat me to it!
Not sure about the "appeared out of nowhere" argument though - that usually gets short shrift here when used by a driver.
It's a bit difficult to imagine a bicycle "appearing out of nowhere", a vehicle that can accelerate from 0-60 in 3.6 seconds and has a top speed of 190mph, on the other hand... Especially on lanes that are probably full of blind bends.
I don't disagree, I was just being a pedant. Perhaps "it appeared suddenly", or "appeared from around a blind bend" or "was driving too fast for the road conditions", but not "out of nowhere". If you're on a road full of blind bends then every oncoming car / cyclist appears suddenly, it's just a question of whether you're both travelling at speeds that allow you to pass each other safely / avoid a collision.