"Very enraged" driver who "used car as weapon" to ram cyclist and cause serious injuries jailed for 44 months

A "very enraged" motorist who deliberately rammed a cyclist off their bike, causing "serious, severe and long-lasting" injuries, has been jailed for three years and eight months, as well as receiving a nine-year driving ban.

Craig McComb had been charged with attempted murder for the incident in August 2022, but was ultimately convicted of assaulting the 67-year-old cyclist to his severe injury, permanent disfigurement and impairment as well as to the danger of his life, STV reported from his sentencing.

At the High Court in Glasgow, a judge told the 37-year-old he had "used your car as a weapon to assault the victim", an attack that resulted in the rider's collarbone ligaments being severed and the bone sticking out of his skin. The victim was also left suffering from PTSD and feared the driver was going to run him over as he lay seriously injured in the road.

McComb, who has previous convictions for offences including driving without insurance, was jailed for three years and eight months and banned from driving for nine years and ten months.

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The victim had been out for a morning ride on an e-bike on 12 August 2022 on the A92 in Glenrothes when he was beeped at by the driver of a black Vauxhall Astra. At the three-day trial last month, The Courier reported the cyclist "shrugged" off the beep as he was obeying the laws of the road and was used to unjust annoyance from passing motorists.

However, on that day McComb "shot up" in front and stopped abruptly, forcing the cyclist to perform an emergency stop to avoid hitting the car. He carried on but was "rammed from behind".

"The car rammed me from behind. His front bumper hit my wheel," the cyclist told the prosecutor Dale Hughes who relayed the account to the court. "My wheel was locked. It could not move, and the car was pushing me along. I was thrown over the handlebars and ended up on the tarmac. I lay on the ground and counted to ten before I decided to move.

"I lay there on the ground and counted to 10 before I decided to move – I was worried about the adrenaline rush. The car was about four or five metres back. I saw the driver reverse backwards. The bike was attached to his car. I thought he was going to flee the scene or he was getting ready to run over the top of me.

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"I gritted my teeth – I was going to roll over on my side if he was going to drive towards me."

McComb then confronted the injured cyclist and was "very enraged" when he got out of the car. His victim was taken to hospital where he was operated on, the cyclist saying he is still affected by the incident two years later and has a mental health professional on "speed dial" as he continues to suffer from PTSD.

The driver was arrested and charged with attempted murder, but was found guilty of the assault charge at the High Court in Edinburgh last month.

At sentencing, Judge Lord Scott said: "You used your car as a weapon. The injuries which you have inflicted upon him are serious, severe and long-lasting."