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Cyclist fined after threatening to stab Halfords worker in puncture repair row

Court in Dublin hears of threats and verbal abuse after Laurence Maguire was told of cost of replacing inner tube

A Dublin cyclist has been fined for causing a breach of the peace at a branch of Halfords after he threatened to stab a sales assistant during an argument the cost of replacing an inner tube.

Laurence Maguire, aged 62, had gone to the store at Malahide Road Business Park in Coolock in the Irish capital's Northside after the tyre on his bike’s rear wheel punctured, reports Independent.ie.

The Halfords employee told Dublin District Court that Maguire became angry when he was told it would cost €9.99 (£8.26) to replace the inner tube.

It is unclear whether that reflected just the price of the inner tube or the cost of fitting it, or both.

The sales assistant said: "He started shouting at me that he was going to stab me and bring his friends to the store.

"We couldn't calm him down. He became louder and more violent."

Store staff called the gardai [police] who said that Maguire continued to swear at them and at Halfords employees outside the store.

Maguire had pleaded not guilty, although his solicitor said that he accepted he had used “certain words” that he now regretted.

He added that his client was sorry for how he spoke to the sales assistant, which he said was because he felt his consumer rights were being infringed.

Judge Cormac Dunne imposed a €400 fine on Maguire and said he had inflicted "gratuitous and unjustified abuse" on the shop’s workers.

The judge said he believed Maguire has "some anger management problem."

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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27 comments

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Ciaran Patrick | 9 years ago
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I was once called that 'deaf cunt' once in a store but company policy stipulated that it was fair and that as a hearing impaired person I 'was not the type of customer we would to see in our store'. This was Virgin Media but I do wonder about company policy sometimes but threatening to stab someone over what I can see as a roughly reasonable price is excessive.

Why didn't he just do the tyre himself or get Halfords to show him how to do it. That could have been an interesting exchange if you think about it.

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FluffyKittenofT... | 9 years ago
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Dublin, eh?
Reassuring to hear that people are pretty much the same everywhere! I was concerned that all the deranged,inexplicably angry people in the world lived in my neighbourhood, but now I can rest a bit easier!

(Its not _really_ a cycling story though, is it?)

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Flying Scot | 9 years ago
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Surely they could have found a better...... solution......

Headline should be 'angry nutter can ride bike'

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Jack Osbourne snr | 9 years ago
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Its the weekly "Random Nutter on Bicycle" story...

Move along.

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jason.timothy.jones | 9 years ago
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To be honest, every time I go to halfords I want to stab them in the face

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Shamblesuk replied to jason.timothy.jones | 9 years ago
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Insatead of moaning about the staff in there, just avoid the place. Simple. I rarely go there, but their sales are usually quite good, especially for clothes. Yes, you're not going to buy a Dura Ace chainset in there but just search out the bargains.

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KiwiMike | 9 years ago
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Quiet cycling-related news day.

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Goldfever4 | 9 years ago
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Quote:

The judge said he believed Maguire has "some anger management problem"

Elementary, Watson....

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allez neg | 9 years ago
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He ought to try and patch things up.......

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horizontal dropout | 9 years ago
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Hmm I wonder if they managed to get the tyre and tube on in the right order...

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bikecellar | 9 years ago
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Yes , working in the retail environment can be "challenging" anyone can come through the doors, and many feel entitled to leave good manners outside. Happy days.

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Urban_Manc replied to bikecellar | 9 years ago
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Same applies to many retail staff, there can be problems on both sides of the counter !

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jacknorell | 9 years ago
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All that because he "felt his consumer rights were being infringed"?

Nutter...

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Mart | 9 years ago
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Threatening to stab someone for following company policy is totally unforgivable.

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oozaveared replied to Mart | 9 years ago
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Mart wrote:

Threatening to stab someone for following company policy is totally unforgivable.

To be fair it's unforgiveable even if they weren't following company policy.

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jason.timothy.jones replied to oozaveared | 9 years ago
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oozaveared wrote:
Mart wrote:

Threatening to stab someone for following company policy is totally unforgivable.

To be fair it's unforgiveable even if they weren't following company policy.

ok i had to chuckle at that one

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lolol | 9 years ago
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Thats not a cyclist, as in an enthusiast, its a nutter who happens to own a bike, I hate being tarred with the same brush as these losers

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philtregear replied to lolol | 9 years ago
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lolol wrote:

Thats not a cyclist, as in an enthusiast, its a nutter who happens to own a bike, I hate being tarred with the same brush as these losers

not all cyclists are saints, not even all enthusiasts! However,I, of course, am perfect !

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matheson | 9 years ago
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Wonder if he ever got the inner tube replaced...

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Steezysix | 9 years ago
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A €400 fine? Seems a little excessive, I could get 40 inner tubes replaced for that much...

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jazzykoenig | 9 years ago
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Learn to do it yourself then

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jmaccelari | 9 years ago
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Obviously a very angry person. I shudder to think what he must be like when he's on his bike in the traffic.

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the inner chimp | 9 years ago
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Nah that's the fitting cost. When I used to work there it was 7 euros for the tube and 7 euros to fit. I used to use the fitting cost as an educational cost so at least customers felt they were getting value for money. The staff see nothing of the labour costs. That goes straight to the Halfords coffers

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the inner chimp | 9 years ago
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Nah that's the fitting cost. When I used to work there it was 7 euros for the tube and 7 euros to fit. I used to use the fitting cost as an educational cost so at least customers felt they were getting value for money. The staff see nothing of the labour costs. That goes straight to the Halfords coffers

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sbcc | 9 years ago
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Thats pretty standard pricing nothing un-reasonable!

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STATO | 9 years ago
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Pretty sure its £9.99 for tube and fitting. Shocking how people have anger issues and cant see a problem with it.

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hounslowrob | 9 years ago
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That's labour cost only, presumably nutter would have called in a bomb threat with the extra 4 or 5 quid for the tube added on.

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