A motorist who allegedly followed a cyclist during a road rage incident, “pinning” his bike to the kerb and loudly revving his engine, before throwing something at the rider, has had his two-year driving ban lifted by an Irish court following an appeal.

BMW driver Romeo Stoica was allegedly spotted using his phone behind the wheel by a cyclist while driving out of Elm Park and onto Sarsfield Road, Cork, on 30 April 2020. According to a statement provided by the cyclist to the police, the rider told the 24-year-old to get off his phone and “pay attention to the road”.

The cyclist claimed that Stoica responded by following him, driving closely behind the rider and revving his engine loudly in an attempt “to pin his bike to the kerb”. The cyclist also reported that a small object was thrown at him from the car as Stoica passed.

No allegation was made, however, that the driver made contact with the cyclist with his car or the object in question, StickyBottle reports.

“The cyclist asked the driver to get off the phone and pay attention to the road,” Judge Kelleher said during the subsequent court proceedings.

“He then continued to cycle. The white BMW followed him and the driver was revving the car loudly at him, attempting to pin his bike to the kerb, but he never made contact with the bike.”

After the cyclist complained to the gardaí, an investigation was carried out. But ironically, it was not the alleged incident itself that resulted in Stoica being prosecuted, but his own handling of the police’s attempts to investigate it.

When the cyclist’s allegations were initially put to him by officers, the 24-year-old said he did not want to make any comment. He then failed to keep an appointment with investigators, before telling them that he could not remember the alleged incident or recall who was driving his car at the time.

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“Later, Garda [Eric] Stafford established the owner of the car as the defendant and tried to make contact with him,” the judge continued.

“An appointment was made for August 11, 2020, at Togher Garda Station but he failed to show up. On August 15, 2020, Garda Stafford made contact with him and he stated that he did not remember the incident and did not want to make a statement.

“A demand was made from him under the Road Traffic Act for him to provide details of the person who was driving at the time but he stated that he did not remember.”

That refusal to provide any information about who was driving saw him charged with breaching the Road Traffic Act and ultimately led to Stoica being fined €1,000 and banned from driving for two years.

Due to the nature of the prosecution, the allegations made by the cyclist were never tested in court and therefore never proven.

The 24-year-old subsequently appealed the decision, claiming his driving ban was “significantly” negatively impacting him and his family.

Following this appeal by defence barrister Nikki O’Sullivan at Cork Circuit Appeals Court last week, Judge Sinéad Behan said she would remove the disqualification, though Stoica’s fine was increased to €1,300.