A driver who threatened to kill a cyclist before attacking the rider during what the victim described as a “near-death experience” has avoided an immediate jail sentence.
At Cardiff Crown Court, Edward Shane was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years, has been ordered to complete a rehabilitation course and was banned from driving for three years for the “terrifying” road rage incident on August 9 last year in Newport.
Wales Online reports that the 69-year-old motorist overtook the cyclist, Marcus Twine, and sounded his horn as he passed, something the rider later questioned when the pair met again at a red light at the junction to a Sainsbury’s supermarket shortly after.
Nik Strobl, prosecuting, explained how Shane had begun swearing at the cyclist, and told him he “will die on this road today” before a verbal altercation led to the motorist leaving his vehicle and exchanging punches with the cyclist, the two men ending up grappling on the floor.
The court heard that having got to their feet, Shane told the cyclist he had a gun and would shoot him. He went to the boot of his car and began looking for something before chasing the cyclist between stationary cars and picking up his bike, holding it over his head.
Mr Twine then kicked Shane who returned to his car while the cyclist looked over the damage to his bike. As the cyclist looked up he saw Shane revving his engine and driving towards him.
Mr Twine went behind a lamppost as Shane accelerated towards him, smashing into the street light, damaging it, his car and the rider’s bike.
Describing the attack as a “near-death experience”, the cyclist was able to call the police having run to a nearby petrol station and borrowed a phone.
Appearing at the scene, officers reported being able to smell alcohol on Shane’s breath, the driver refusing a roadside breathalyser test. He was taken to hospital for treatment to a cut on his head, the court hearing he then asked officers for the cyclist’s name so he could put a “hit” on him.
A blood test at hospital showed Shane’s blood alcohol level to be 175mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood (legal limit is 80mg).
Shane pleaded guilty to making threats to kill, dangerous driving, assault by beating, criminal damage, driving with excess alcohol, and failing to provide a specimen for analysis. During an interview he said he had made the threats in the heat of the moment and had not meant them.
At sentencing, Simon Hughes, recording, said the “colourful exchange” between the cyclist and motorist, prompted by Shane’s use of the horn, had turned into an “appalling piece of behaviour” and a “terrifying” experience for Mr Twine.
Shane’s defence, Stuart John, said his client’s life had “unravelled” post-retirement and he had been “drinking extremely heavily indeed”, and accepts responsibility for the incident.
Shane had a previous conviction for drink driving, and was given a suspended sentence, told to undertake a rehabilitation course, and banned from driving for three years with a requirement to pass an extended retest before resuming driving.
56 thoughts on “Suspended sentence for road rage driver who assaulted cyclist after making death threats”
I’m hearing a John Cleese
I’m hearing a John Cleese voice, “Well yes, but apart from making threats to kill, dangerous driving, assault by beating, criminal damage, driving with excess alcohol, and failing to provide a specimen for analysis, what has he ever done to deserve going to prison?”
Unbelievable.
Yep, you can do all of that
Yep, you can do all of that and get away with a suspended sentence.
However… smash a car with a baseball bat…. and you go to jail.
https://www.northantslive.news/news/northamptonshire-news/car-smashed-up-baseball-bat-5942089
I want to say this is
I want to say this is unbelievable, but it is 100% believable. Another day, another maniac told his behaviour is fine.
From “Drivers and their problems”:
“Wish my drivetrain was this dirty.”
https://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/23596684.writing-wash-me-dirty-vehicles-land-2-500-fine/ — David9694
yup – cars are so protected, if you so much as touch a car, you can be fined.
Two parts of that story show
Two parts of that story show why he went to prison:
“When confronted by a member of the household who was in the attached garage, the defendant says ‘I’m going to hit your son and kill him. Do you want some of this as well?'”
And the more serious piece of evidence:
“Witnesses said the defendant had turned up on a pushbike with a baseball bat in his possession.”
Guilty as charged.
To be fair, all of those “you
To be fair, all of those “you could be fined up to £[maximum penalty in law] for [dubiously inferred infraction, which has had no precedent ever of being sustained in a court]” articles are basically clickbait BS.
HoldingOn wrote:
— David9694
Oh, now that is just ridiculous!
HoldingOn wrote:
yup – cars are so protected, if you so much as touch a car, you can be fined.— David9694
How would anyone be able to write clan me in the dirt on a car owned by “someone who looks after their car”. Also very difficult to scratch a window with a finger. So this is a nonsense story because to be prosecuted for damage they would have to prove actual damage
You missed the all important
You missed the all important detail…the miscreant was riding a bike! Just as well they abolished hanging.
pockstone wrote:
Oh… so when the judge gave this driver a suspended sentence…
tootsie323 wrote:
They really really meant “suspended” 😉
TriTaxMan wrote:
Ah, but in that case there were aggravating factors : “the defendant had turned up on a pushbike”
Whereas in this case, the acts were mitigated the fact that the defendant was a raging alcoholic with a previous drink driving conviction.
Prosecutor: He was drunk as a judge
Judge: Don’t you mean ‘drunk as a lord’?
Prosecutor: Yes m’lord …
Probably locked up as he was
Probably locked up as he was identified as a cyclist by riding a bike to the scene of the crime, no doubt considered an aggravating factor….
“The baseball bat will be
“The baseball bat will be destroyed and forfeited”
apart from the fact that it should be the other way around (forfieted and destroyed) why does this not seem to happen when cars are used to intimidate victims or indeed as weapons, I know it can happen if they aren’t taxed and insured properly but perhaps it should become the norm with a driving ban too
Mr baseball bat has form
Mr baseball bat has form though, which makes a difference with sentencing.
Don’t forget the previous
Don’t forget the previous conviction for drink driving.
Truly unbelievable.
Don’t forget the threats to
Don’t forget the threats to organise a contract killing which were witnessed by a police officer.
Indeed. His mitigation for
Indeed. His mitigation for the original threat to kill was ‘heat of the moment’ yet even after a cooling off in an ambulance/ A&E he was still prepared to make further threats, in the presence of the cops FFS. This is an unbelievably lenient sentence.
pockstone wrote:
— pockstoneNot when you consider that the victim was a less-than-human cyclist. He would have received a heavier sentence if the victim was a family pet.
I would argue being a cyclist
I would argue being a cyclist is not the reason for leniency, it is more that the perpetrator is a driver, so Judges and Juries treat that as “well it can happen to anyone”. The victim of the driver could easily have been a pedestrian then a cyclist and that would still be the case.
The BBC have a report of two girls who were crossing a road and waited in a hatched area on a right-hand bend for the car to pass. Instead the driver cut the corner and ploughed directly into them. The mothers (drivers themselves I suspect) has decided that “well it was an accident” even after one of them mentioned that had to sign a consent form to potentially amputate her daughter leg and it was the worst day of her life.
pockstone wrote:
It’s almost like he’s had some practise at this…
He has eight previous convictions for 15 offences including one for drink-driving.
HoarseMann wrote:
So appropriate for the judge to wear the black cap when passing sentence
‘shall be taken from this place to a place of execution and hung by the neck until dead. May God have mercy on his miserable soul ‘
(c) Charles Dickens
“As the cyclist looked up he
“As the cyclist looked up he saw Shane revving his engine and driving towards him.
Mr Twine went behind a lamppost as Shane accelerated towards him, smashing into the street light, damaging it, his car and the rider’s bike.”
This is attempted murder. He threatened to murder someone and then tried to murder them. Only through his victim’s quick thinking was he unsuccessful.
He should be in prison for decades. Someone like that shouldn’t be on our streets, with or without a car.
Patrick9-32 wrote:
He quite literally used his vehicle as a deadly weapon and proved that he should never be allowed behind the wheel of a car again… a three year ban doesn’t really seem appropriate really does it.
If I had a gun licence and decided in a drunken state to get angry and shoot at someone, they would take the gun off me and I would never be allowed to own a gun again.
“If I had a gun licence and
“If I had a gun licence and decided in a drunken state to get angry and shoot at someone, they would take the gun off me and I would never be allowed to own a gun again. “
…….I live in the US, and in a Republican state like Texas or Florida they’d be more likely to buy you more bullets to replace the ones used in your previous attempts.
This is the assclown judge
This is the assclown judge who’s poor sentencing enables criminals to walk free.
You should be able to challenge the professional competence of these people.
He probably runs over badgers
Judge probably runs over badgers for fun…
Shane’s mitigating factor.
Shane’s mitigating factor. Mr Twine was a cyclist.
Not a driver, dog walker or jogger. Mr Twine had provided cause enough for this idiot to turn ferile.
I would’ve pistol whipped him with my Zefal!
“I would’ve pistol whipped
“I would’ve pistol whipped him with my Zefal!”
is that a kind of dildo?
You better believe it. Steel
You better believe it. Steel tipped, with optional jagged edge.
Is there any chance of Road
Is there any chance of Road.cc doing a video interview with the victim and stitching it together with the photos of the damaged lamppost / transcript of the court hearing?
It would make for a great piece of storytelling and ideal for sharing to the wider public – maybe the likes of JeremyVine would be willing to share it to their audience.
Aside from the absence of any
Aside from the absence of any usefull punishment, this is another case where I advocate for use of loss of taste buds and libido (though given his age, this maybe pointless).
Further to this, another option for serious offences is for the criminal to lose all pleasure centre senses in their brain.
Any biological system that can trigger a pleasurable feeling should simply be switched off.
This sounds like a
This sounds like a particularly egregious example and yet still only a suspended sentence.
In the early days of lockdown, I had the temerity to wave an arm in protest as a guy punishment passed me close in a village in Kent. I found him waiting for me at the next junction and after a “what the **** did you just say to me”, he abandoned his car with the door open in the middle of a B-road, got right in my face, told me he was going to kill me and that he was going to run over me and my effing bike. I tried as hard as possible to stay calm and asked him to leave me alone. Cue a bit more swearing and ranting and as he moved back towards his car I rode off sharpish. Spent the whole of the rest of the ride looking over my shoulder, convinced he was going to try and find me and knock me off. Fortunately he didn’t. The police were pleasant but apparently covid made it far too dangerous to investigate the matter any further despite giving them a detailed description of the driver, car and reg.
Bought cameras the next week and been using them ever since but you wonder what standard of evidence is required for any of these incidents to result in any sort of meaningful punishment.
Had you been astride anything
Had you been astride anything other than a bicycle. The ignorant would’ve been in chains.
The law sympathises with the motorist when it comes to cyclists.
Not really; I’ve been run off
Not really; I’ve been run off the road when driving a motor vehicle and when I reported it to plod, they looked up the vehicle details and told me the registered owner has form for road rage offences, but still wouldn’t do anything without video or independent witness evidence.
As you are an Ex-plod, I’m
As you are an Ex-plod, I’m surprised your mates treated you the same as normal people. Over here according to some videos, the driver only has to say they are ex-plod to get real plod to start blaming the cyclist even with camera evidence of the bad driving.
grOg wrote:
Cool story, bro.
Cool story, bro
Cool story, bro
Does indeed look like the story of an habitual fantasist. The police are very unlikely to jeopardise one of their most useful dodges, an excessive concern for real and imaginary GDPR ‘rules’, by gratuitously handing out information on the driver of an identifiable vehicle
Grog is Australian so GDPR
Grog is Australian so GDPR doesn’t apply.
Has he definitely already
Has he definitely already been sentenced for this? My reading of the final paragraph was that the suspended sentence was for a previous conviction, and that … oh, nope, I checked the Wales Online reporting. Well, that’s grim. I wonder what the justification was for suspending the sentence.
notMyRealName wrote:
Distinctive handshake?
notMyRealName wrote:
OAP
Old age privilge
Appalling behaviour can be justified by the judge, who identifies with someone of a similar age. Excuses it as out of character (despite previous drunk driving convictions) and considers that pison is not suitable for older people.
If someone aged 20 had acted in this manner I would expect a significant custodial.
This driver will be back
This driver will be back behind the wheel in three years.
Let that sink in.
He will be given his weapon back in 36 months.
HoldingOn wrote:
Ah but only after an “extended test”, one that’s half an hour longer than the normal test, so he shouldn’t be any danger once he’s had to obey the law for a whole sixty minutes.
He’ll have to control his
He’ll have to control his rage for sixty minutes?
Yeah – he’s never passing that.
Rendel Harris wrote:
Ah but only after an “extended test”, one that’s half an hour longer than the normal test, so he shouldn’t be any danger once he’s had to obey the law for a whole sixty minutes.— HoldingOn
Um, does anyone think he will take any notice of the ban? Or retake his test?
No. And it’s frightening to
No. And it’s frightening to think how many banned drivers are actually driving around, without insurance as well, presumably.
Daveyraveygravey wrote:
Time to put a chip in driving licences and a chip reader in all cars, so the car will only start with a valid licence present, and no one can “forget” who was driving the vehicle on a particular day, because the car will remember.
wycombewheeler wrote:
Could be easily and cheaply done. We each have a card at my work and if you don’t have the relevant licence that particular piece of equipment won’t start when you swipe your card. It also keeps a record of who was driving and if the machine senses a collision it won’t move until a manager comes to investigate what has happened.
Witchcraft! From the
1984! From the dystopian future of more-than-Chinese-state levels of surveillance and control! Especially the “who was driving” bit – that’s pure snitching on yourself.
You’ll be demanding drivers have photo-ID and identifiable vehicles next.
I can sense our good free-living anachist population – already triggered by “15 minute cities” – logging in to the social medias on their devices to protest as I type this!
How cheap are these? How soon can we get them?
Even without the asault,
Even without the asault, murder threat etc, the fact that he had a previous drink driving conviction should merit a lifetime driving ban. What a joke!
This suspended sentence
This suspended sentence should be challenged. A ‘colourful exchange’ wtaf. I hope the judge has a colourful exchange in the near future.
Muddy Ford wrote:
Unfortunately the Attorney General’s office will only review certain types of offence for low sentences and none of the ones committed by Shane are on the list.
Here’s hoping all those
Here’s hoping all those elites in the legal system all experience what is a ‘colourful exchange’ for themselves in the near future.
But if you screen a Premier
But if you screen a Premier League Match without paying for it, you’ll get 5 years!
^^^^ THIS!
^^^^ THIS!
Have previous, say you’re going to kill someone, try to kill someone with a weapon, try to get details of your victim so someone else can kill them (but then later say you “didn’t mean it”). I mean how bad do you actually have to be?
My only surprise is that the judge didn’t take Shane out the back for a complimentary hand job before sending him on his way.
It’s hard to have anything but contempt for courts like this.
If I were the cyclist I’d
If I were the cyclist I’d consider taking out a civil case against the driver for damages. The driver has shown himself unfit to be trusted with a car and the three year ban isn’t long enough. I’d say it should be permanent. In Germany if persistent alcohol abusers are caught drink driving they then have to undergo alcohol tests at the end of the ban period. If the medical tests show they are continuing to abuse alcohol they are not allowed their licence back. I reckon that’s something we should adopt in the UK.