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Australian cyclist takes axe to neighbour's car after being pushed off bike

Angry rider suffered grazes in the shove and returned with axe to retailiate

A cyclist who was pushed off his bike by a neighbour as he was cycling home took revenge by attacking the man’s car with an axe.

John Bromley Williams, 51, was riding home on the Isle of Capri in Australia’s Gold Coast, when he suffered cuts and grazes after being pushed off his bike by his neighbour.

He fetched an axe from home and smashed the windscreens of two cars outside the neighbour’s house, also denting the bodywork.

A motorist dialled the emegency services who found Williams with the axe and bloodstained gloves.

The Southport Magistrates Court heard that both men had been drinking, and Williams pleaded guilty to wilful damage and arming himself so as to cause fear, according to The Australian.

He has since stopped drinking and moved house to avoid any further confrontation, the court was told.

He was made to pay AU$4546 to Suncorp Insurance and sentenced to 150 hours of community service.

In a similar incident in the UK this year, Thames Valley Police arrested a 41-year-old man on suspicion of GBH with intent and criminal damage in connection with a road rage attack in Oxford.

The incident took place on Parks Road after a motorist exiting the University of Oxford’s site there was involved in a near miss with a cyclist.

Police say that the latter then assaulted the driver with his bike lock and also damaged the vehicle.

The 32 year old victim of the alleged assault had to be treated at the city’s John Radcliffe Hospital for facial injuries.

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16 comments

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Armchair Cyclist | 10 years ago
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Thank you for the illustration. I was totally bemused by the concept of an 'axe' before I saw that. Could I ask for extension of the graphic glossary of terms to be extended to 'car', 'house', 'road' and 'Australia'?

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Notsmallpaul | 10 years ago
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Blood stained gloves? Did I miss a paragraph?

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Tripod16 | 10 years ago
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Touche!

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Ghedebrav | 10 years ago
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What's all the fuss about? He just realised it was time to bury the hatchet...

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nowasps | 10 years ago
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Love the titles under some of these library shots.

"An axe yesterday" sort of thing...

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congokid replied to nowasps | 10 years ago
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nowasps wrote:

Love the titles under some of these library shots

Almost at the level of some of the captions under pics used on the Guardian site.

'A photo of a man...'

Must be for ease of legibility for blind visitors who use talking browsers (assuming there is such a thing...)

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nowasps | 10 years ago
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Is anyone making a light-weight aero axe that we can take on the bike?

Titanium head on a carbon handle perhaps?

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KNOWNOTHINGBOZO | 10 years ago
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Should have waited till the middle of the night. Forget axe, screwdriver through the radiator. The bloke will drive miles before the car overheats and will be ass fodder for the bush.
I may have put too much thought into this type of thing whilst I ride around seething after the latest bit of lunacy.

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Lungsofa74yearold | 10 years ago
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Luckily for me I don't own an axe!

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bobbinogs replied to Lungsofa74yearold | 10 years ago
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pastaman wrote:

Luckily for me I don't own an axe!

I have a battleaxe at home but that's a different story.

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harrybav | 10 years ago
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We've all been there!  36

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Argos74 | 10 years ago
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There's a right way and a wrong way to do this. This was the wrong way. The right way - be elected mayor, use a tank.

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georgee | 10 years ago
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Still a heavier sentence than killing a cyclist with your car in this country...

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congokid | 10 years ago
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The penalties for damaging another's property are probably way more severe than for endangering (or even taking) someone's life if they happen to be on a bike, so in this instance I expect the full weight of the law to fall on the angry cyclist.

And here - at least as reported - the cyclist's actions were premeditated.

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koko56 | 10 years ago
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And what about pushing the guy of his bike? Was the guy on foot or in car?

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Oscarzero | 10 years ago
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oh please, this is not a story - they were both drunk as skunks. Why bother reporting this...no further comment.

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