Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Uninsured teen driver would have known cyclist was under car when he did three-point turn

Incident occurred after earlier confrontation

A judge has said that an uninsured teenager would have known that a cyclist was underneath his car when he performed a three-point turn in the road after the pair had had a confrontation. Andrei Marginica, who fled the scene and then left for France, was jailed for 15 months and banned from driving for 17 months.

Hull Live reports that on December 12 last year Marginica drove straight over Bradley Train's body after he fell from his bike at the Mount Pleasant roundabout in Hull.

Judge Mark Bury accepted that Marginica was “genuinely scared” of Train following an earlier exchange, but also said that he was "satisfied" the motorist knew he was under his car when he performed a three-point turn to get away.

The judge told Marginica he accepted his explanation for the initial confrontation, “that is to say Mr Train somehow collided with the rear of your car, not causing any damage.”

At this point the two men exchanged words with Marginica calling Train "stupid" through his open window. After driving off, he became stuck in traffic and Train was seen "pedalling furiously" after him.

Train is said to have then approached the car. “What's clear from the footage, he's then at the bonnet of your car at the front,” said the judge.

"What then happens is he falls off. The only place he could have fallen was under your car – I'm satisfied you knew that. You then drove over him – shocking footage to watch."

Train’s ribs were crushed and he suffered a collapsed lung.

Marginica did not stop, did not call for help, and drove away. He later returned to the scene but fled again after seeing emergency services.

He then took a train to London before boarding the Eurostar to France. Police had circulated his details and he was stopped on arrival in Gare du Nord station in Paris.

Marginica, who is originally from Romania, admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving, using a vehicle without insurance, failing to stop after an accident, and failing to report an accident.

Jailing him, the judge said: "It's quite impossible to deal with this other than to impose an immediate sentence of imprisonment, and the reason for that is self-evident from the footage – it's quite appalling driving, whatever the circumstances, and your attempts to avoid liability for it do you no credit at all."

Train said that since the incident he no longer has a job, no longer goes out and has gone from being “easy-going and laidback” to “uptight and stressed”.

“I’m happy with 15 months,” he said. “I would have liked him to have more but I’m happy with that. He is only young so hopefully he will come out and learn from this.”

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

Add new comment

22 comments

Avatar
cougie | 5 years ago
0 likes

Just saying that the Police don't make the law or impose sentencing. 

Avatar
FluffyKittenofT... replied to cougie | 5 years ago
0 likes

cougie wrote:

Just saying that the Police don't make the law or impose sentencing. 

 

I think the point being made was that those who do make the law tend to be very responsive to the needs and wishes of the police.

 

Though I don't think that's anything like as true as it used to be.  Your modern elite seem to regard the police as rather declasse oiks who need to be put in their place and face market discipline.   "Plebs", even.

 

  I personally think there might be a real shift there, from the middle-class 'striver' generation of Thatcher and Tebbit, who saw the police as a crucial bulwark agiainst disorder and Bolshevism, to our new Etonian overlords, for whom the cops are mostly lower-class bores who got in the way of their having fun smashing up restaurants.

Avatar
Legs_Eleven_Wor... replied to cougie | 5 years ago
0 likes

cougie wrote:

Just saying that the Police don't make the law or impose sentencing. 

Erm, I didn't say that they did.  

Avatar
cougie | 5 years ago
1 like

And yet people call for cyclists to be taxed on the roads.  We can't even tax cars properly. 

Avatar
BehindTheBikesheds | 5 years ago
4 likes

I know this roundabout, it's on the route from my folks to Hull city centre and I'll be cycling on it in a weeks time. Despite Hull supposedly having the third highest cycling rate in England, it's just like anywhere else, aggressive drivers and shit roads with piss poor/non existent cycle infra and police who similar to most other places don't give a fuck about shit driving.

And apparently a witness to the event has stated on Hull Live that it was deliberate by the driver, in which case it should have been a far more serious offence.

If as the judge states the driver knew he was there then it's a deliberate act, weak CPS and weak judge.

Avatar
NPlus1Bikelights | 5 years ago
2 likes

Oscar Pistorius wishes he had used a car.

Avatar
ChrisB200SX | 5 years ago
7 likes

What exactly do you have to do to get a proper sentence for seriously injuring a cyclist with a motor vehicle?

Avatar
Legs_Eleven_Wor... replied to ChrisB200SX | 5 years ago
3 likes

ChrisB200SX wrote:

What exactly do you have to do to get a proper sentence for seriously injuring a cyclist with a motor vehicle?

If an MP or a councillor or a Chief Constable (or any relative of any of the above) got wiped out, you can be sure that there'd be a change to the law, pretty sharpish.  

Avatar
the little onion replied to Legs_Eleven_Worcester | 5 years ago
1 like

Legs_Eleven_Worcester wrote:

ChrisB200SX wrote:

What exactly do you have to do to get a proper sentence for seriously injuring a cyclist with a motor vehicle?

If an MP or a councillor or a Chief Constable (or any relative of any of the above) got wiped out, you can be sure that there'd be a change to the law, pretty sharpish.  

 

Actually, not even in those cases - the son-in-law of the Chief Constable of the Met Police was killed by a lorry whilst he was cycling. The driver was charged with death by careless driving  but the CPS dropped the ball and it wasn't brought to court

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-12338526

 

Avatar
cougie replied to Legs_Eleven_Worcester | 5 years ago
0 likes

Legs_Eleven_Worcester wrote:

ChrisB200SX wrote:

What exactly do you have to do to get a proper sentence for seriously injuring a cyclist with a motor vehicle?

If an MP or a councillor or a Chief Constable (or any relative of any of the above) got wiped out, you can be sure that there'd be a change to the law, pretty sharpish.  

 

Like the police decide on sentences... 

Avatar
Legs_Eleven_Wor... replied to cougie | 5 years ago
0 likes

cougie wrote:

Legs_Eleven_Worcester wrote:

ChrisB200SX wrote:

What exactly do you have to do to get a proper sentence for seriously injuring a cyclist with a motor vehicle?

If an MP or a councillor or a Chief Constable (or any relative of any of the above) got wiped out, you can be sure that there'd be a change to the law, pretty sharpish.  

 

Like the police decide on sentences... 

Sorry?

Avatar
Rick_Rude | 5 years ago
1 like

Most annoying thing about all this shit is the fact he should never have been on the road anyway. No insurance and all these anpr cameras are no use at all. Guarantee, you forget to renew your car by one day and youll get nicked.

Avatar
birzzles | 5 years ago
0 likes

If Train was ‘easy going and laid back’ he wouldnt have got into the incident in the first place.

Avatar
Zebulebu replied to birzzles | 5 years ago
12 likes
birzzles wrote:

If Train was ‘easy going and laid back’ he wouldnt have got into the incident in the first place.

I consider myself 'easy going and laid back'. Those traits are regularly tested to the limit when someone in a 1 ton metal box drives at me, or around me without care. Perhaps you've never experienced someone scream abuse at you, drive their car at you, open their door on you whilst the car is moving to try and knock you off, left hook you and laugh as you end up crumpled in the gutter before driving away, run you into a hedge, hit you with their mirror then get out of the car to swing punches at you, call you a "fucking muggy cunt" because you overtake them in traffic, throw a half full can of lager at you as they pass less than six inches from you at 50mph or (insert any one of countless other incidents here)

When those things happen, occasionally you lose your cool

Avatar
Daveyraveygravey replied to birzzles | 5 years ago
0 likes

birzzles wrote:

If Train was ‘easy going and laid back’ he wouldnt have got into the incident in the first place.

 

How the fuck can you say that?  There's no mention of what happened before the cyclist was run over, so you have no idea what provoked his reaction.

Avatar
StuInNorway replied to Daveyraveygravey | 5 years ago
2 likes

Daveyraveygravey wrote:

birzzles wrote:

If Train was ‘easy going and laid back’ he wouldnt have got into the incident in the first place.

 

How the fuck can you say that?  There's no mention of what happened before the cyclist was run over, so you have no idea what provoked his reaction.

 

Well actually there IS mention of what happened first : 
The judge told Marginica he accepted his explanation for the initial confrontation, “that is to say Mr Train somehow collided with the rear of your car, not causing any damage.”

 

What is not mentioned is the cause of this incident. Did Train simply misjudge his braking and tap the rear of the car, or was it as in many cases that the driver had pulled out in front of, or overtaken the cyclist before suddenly applying brakes leaving little to no reaction space for the cyclist.
 

Avatar
peted76 | 5 years ago
8 likes

It'd be 15 years if a cyclist had done a three point turn on a pedestrian... and they'd probably bring back hanging for uninsured cyclists afterwards.

Avatar
Grahamd | 5 years ago
0 likes

I suspect the sentence would have been much shorter had the cnut had insurance.

Avatar
brooksby replied to Grahamd | 5 years ago
0 likes

Grahamd wrote:

I suspect the sentence would have been much shorter had the cnut had insurance.

...and if he hadn't fled the country (a sure sign of innocence, as any fule kno  ).

Avatar
Mungecrundle | 5 years ago
4 likes

Just fell off in front of the car or nudged and knocked down before being deliberately driven over?

Avatar
Zebulebu | 5 years ago
11 likes

15 months for attempted murder. Seems about right. Surprised the cunt isn't suing him for damage to the underside of his uninsured car.

Usually don't comment on these, because everyone knows the law is an ass, and cyclists are fair game - but this is utterly fucking ridiculous.

Avatar
pastyfacepaddy replied to Zebulebu | 5 years ago
7 likes

Zebulebu wrote:

15 months for attempted murder. Seems about right. Surprised the cunt isn't suing him for damage to the underside of his uninsured car. Usually don't comment on these, because everyone knows the law is an ass, and cyclists are fair game - but this is utterly fucking ridiculous.

Agree completely.

'your attempts to avoid liability for it do you no credit at all.'

Really? No Credit at all? Surely the fact he fled, leaving someone (potentially) dying in the street and tried to flee the country to avoid prosecution should have more impact than that? FFS!

Latest Comments