A road rage driver who admitted charges of assaulting two cyclists who turned out to be an off-duty traffic police officer has been fined £400 and banned from driving for two months.
Former lorry driver Kenneth Warrington, aged 55, also admitted careless driving during the incident on Sligo Road, Enniskillen, on 27 March this year, according to Northern Ireland-based news website, Impartial Reporter.
Separate charges relating to disorderly conduct and blocking the road were dropped..
Sergeant Alan Ward and Constable Ruairi McMahon were riding along the Sligo Road with a third cyclist when a coach passed them, with an Isuzu Trooper 4X4 driven by Warrington following behind.
Two of the cyclists were riding abreast, and the court was told that he beeped his horn and passed the cyclists so close that one of them was forced to take evasive action.
According to the prosecution, the motorist then stopped his vehicle, blocking the road and causing the cyclists to stop, then approached them in what was described as a state of agitation, with clenched fists and swearing at them.
Sergeant Ward, who works at the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s Roads Policing Unit, stretched his arm out to try and calm the driver down, but Warrington pushed it away.
He then returned to his car and drove off, but the two police officers were able to identify him and police interviewed him a week later, when he said he was the driver involved and admitted pushing the cyclist’s arm.
In court, he also admitted through his defence solicitor, Myles McManus that he had used his horn and had passed the cyclists too close.
Mr McManus said: “This was a momentary outburst of bad temper and out of character,” adding that Warrington’s haulage firm had gone out of business due to the recession.
The lawyer said that during his work as a lorry driver, his client drove “millions upon millions of miles” and had an unblemished driving record other than receiving points on his licence for not wearing a seat belt and using a mobile phone.
Claiming that the third cyclist had made a rude gesture, Mr McManus said of Warrington, “He is not a man who causes difficulty for other road users.”
Besides the physical assault on Sergeant Ward, Warrington, whom his lawyer said accepted that “cyclists are very vulnerable road users,” also admitted assaulting Constable McMahon due to the fear of injury caused to the latter by passing him with only two or three feet to spare.
“This is not the most serious of incidents to come before the court,” Mr McManus added.
However, passing sentence, District Judge Nigel Broderick told Warrington: “This was a nasty incident, typically described as road rage,” and that whatever gesture had been made was no excuse for his actions.
He added: “I think your emotions got the better of you.”
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39 comments
The only reason he was convicted was because the victims were officers. I cant recall how many times i have been told to "get on with it" after being passed with inches to spare. Close passing, to cops, means nothing till they are the ones on the receiving end.
'Yep I have a clean driving license. Except for the points for not wearing a seatbelt.'
Ok, so other than the points for not wearing a seat belt, it's an unblemished driving record.
'Well that, and that time I got points for using my mobile when driving.'
Ok, so other than the mobile phone usage and the not wearing a seatbelt incident, it's a clean record right?
'Well, I also drove my car in to a group of cyclists whilst beeping my horn at them to endanger and intimidate them.'
No worries, so other than the seat belt thing, the using a phone at the wheel and the driving your car at a group of cyclists everything is groovy right?
'Yeah, almost. There was also the time when I got out of my car and assaulted a police officer.'
So, as you can see, other than not wearing a seat belt, the using a phone while driving, the driving in to a group of cyclists and the assault of a police officer he's actually got a really good track record for driving.
A 'bad temper moment'??????
So he sees a group of cyclists in the road and this throws his mood? Needs some kind of therapy if that is the case.
Aye bruv, I dont take drugs mannnnn, well a smoke weed an a couple o Eccys at ra weekend, but no I dont take drugs man....
mess with a copper and they do something... anyone else and it would be too much trouble and all "he said, she said"...
Oh so that's what an unblemished driving record looks like is it?
And yet he still hasn't got a frickin clue what he's doing.
I personally have a clean criminal record apart from those bank jobs and shootings what I done, guv'
Yeah I know Imagine Nuremberg. "Well apart from the invasions, the death camps and attempted genocide, the roving death squads, the murders of prisioners of war which we accept were mistakes, my client is a generally a man of good character."
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