A man described as a “decent individual” has been handed a suspended prison sentence by a judge for driving into cyclist after a road rage argument.
Asif Laher, 55, was driving through Bayswater, London in February 2022 in his silver Mercedes when he turned and cut across Wadea Taibi. A verbal altercation ensued, with Laher “aggressively” banging his steering wheel and shouting.
Taibi then went to grab Laher’s wing mirror, which broke in his hand. Taibi told the court this was unintentional. This sparked a chase that left Taibi “pedalling for his life” as Laher started ‘revving and screeching’ the engine, before chasing after him, as first reported by the Daily Mail.
Laher then drove into Taibi from behind. Taibi told the court he didn’t remember the immediate aftermath of the crash but was taken to hospital with ankle and wrist injuries plus a lacerated ear. He also said he continued to suffered from back issues, shooting leg pain, memory issues and bouts of dizziness.
“I have a 1.5 inch scar on the left side of my forehead. I have struggled to come to terms with the change in my appearance. I am unable to do the hobbies I used to enjoy.
“I haven’t cycled since the incident. It is something I used to love doing. It was a major part of my life and also how I got around London. I felt that it was all my fault even though it was not.”
Laher, from Watford, pleaded guilty to one count of causing injury by dangerous driving and received a suspended prison sentence after the judge ruled despite CCTV footage that it was not possible to determine the speed Laher was going.
His lawyer told the court Laher was “otherwise a very decent individual” whose business, an IT consultancy and distributor would become “unviable” if he received a custodial sentence.
“That would affect not just him but his employees as well […] his business is everything to him. It is everything to a lot of other people as well.”
Laher was also ordered to complete 30 days of rehabilitation, 200 hours of unpaid work, and to pay £1600 to Taibi. He was also disqualified from driving for two years.
This article was amended on the 16th of January to correct one of the details of sentencing in the original version of this story from 200 days of unpaid work to 200 hours of unpaid work and to remove a quote wrongly attributed to the judge in the case rather than the prosecuting counsel, Andrew Judge.
19 thoughts on “Driver described as “otherwise decent individual” spared jail after driving into cyclist following road rage argument”
-His lawyer also told the court Laher was “otherwise a very decent individual” whose business, an IT consultancy and distributor would become “unviable” if he received a custodial sentence.
“That would affect not just him but his employees as well […] his business is everything to him. It is everything to a lot of other people as well.”-
So this is a get out of jail free card and he is free to commit ANY crime and never be in custody??
Just imagine if a cyclist’s job became unviable due to being put in hospital with life changing injuries? Or does that not matter these days?
Murder someone. That’s OK – your business and staff come first.
no, we all know it wouldn’t be ANY crime, just ones that involve killing or maiming cyclists.
From a bit of searching, it seems to be B-Tech Distribution Ltd. Last filing of micro accounts at Companies House = 2 employees and £24k of capital and reserves (and behind on compulsory filings). No wonder the judge didn’t want to put him away. The UK economy would have crashed if that company had gone under. Not.
This wasn’t “causing injury by dangerous driving”, it was assault or even attempted murder with the murder weapon being a car.
I just hope that when some cunt in a car kills me they have a rep sheet as long as my arm, the sun wasn’t shining and they don’t own a business or have any family…. or a pet gerbil.
In other news another otherwise decent individual tried to drive home after being banned”
https://news.sky.com/story/motorist-gets-ban-in-court-and-then-tries-to-drive-himself-home-13506223
Not sure why he couldn’t have pleaded exceptional hardship as it would have been slightly inconvenient not being able to drive home.
Another case that tells lunatic motorists and violent car drivers – injuring or killing cyclists has no consequences.
So what is a cyclist to do if the courts believe fleeing to avoid injury is not the solution? Grab a bike pump and launch an offensive as the best defense?
A U lock is far more effective.
Sorry, D lock.
When they first started appearing here in – as I recall – the early ’80s everyone called them U-locks, I don’t know when or why we started changing the name.
Is this another variant of “otherwise law abiding” eg. “except when they’re not” or something different?
Are we in back in “the Devil, is he all bad?” territory?
Victims! Do your bit to help our struggling prisons by ensuring you are a cyclist whilst being attacked!
“otherwise a very decent individual”
Decent. Very decent. Well, otherwise very decent. Except that he pursues, attacks and injures someone who has offended him, using a deadly weapon to do so, and it is within the bounds of possibility that he could have killed his victim.
But in the normal course of things, his punishment is quite severe for a driver attacking a cyclist, so perhaps we should be grateful.
I wonder what punishment a cyclist would get for chasing and attacking a pedestrian with a deadly weapon?
I think the sentence was proportionate and remember it includes 200 hours work, 30 days rehabilitation and a permanent criminal record. Of course I feel sorry for the cyclist but it sounds as if there was aggro coming from both parties. We’ve got to stop locking up so many people in this country and stop being so vengeful. It’s the sign of an angry and bitter community otherwise.
So – other than using a deadly weapon to attack someone he is a decent person?
If he had used a machete would that be different – maybe a shotgun
what kind of deadly weapon is required to be a “really bad thing”???
If the police and the courts continue to fail to provide justice people are going to start taking it into their own hands, and I’d certainly never vote to convict. If it’s not a proper crime to inflict death or life-changing injuries on a cyclist with your car, then it’s not a proper crime for someone to inflict those same outcomes on you in turn with a big bit of metal pipe.