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"I could have been killed": Cyclist with cancer beaten by driver in shocking unprovoked attack

A judge at Portsmouth Crown Court told Joshua Mills he will go to jail for the assault

A driver who blared his BMW's horn and shouted abuse at a cyclist with cancer before launching a shocking unprovoked attack has been told he will be going to jail.

The News reports 63-year-old cyclist Mark Rapley attended Portsmouth Crown Court to read his victim impact statement in which he said was just nine stone at the time of the attack due to his cancer treatment and "couldn't fight back".

Joshua Mills admitted a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm for the unprovoked attack which left Mr Rapley bleeding heavily, with swelling and bruises to his face and body.

"I could have been killed for no reason whatsoever," the cyclist told the court. "I am furious I was assaulted for nothing. I still, to this day, have no idea why he did what he did."

Mr Rapley was cycling on Hayling Island at 11.30am on October 24 last year when he was beeped at by Mills in his BMW and was on the receiving end of verbal abuse shouted from the passing vehicle.

The driver then got out of the car, punched the cyclist to the ground, and began stamping on him. Mr Rapley turned away and protected his head to avoid further injury but was, prosecutor Richard Cherill told the court, left "bleeding heavily from the mouth" and suffered "swelling and bruises on the face and body".

Mills initially refused to attend a police identification parade and lied to officers about whether he was driving the vehicle, but later pleaded guilty to an assault charge having been successfully indentified.

"You are about to go to jail"

In the courtroom exchange that followed it is reported the judge, William Ashworth, told Mills he would be going to jail and asked if he wanted a lawyer, something the unrepresented defendant suggested was a decision he had taken due to financial factors.

"I run a small business and have four young children who depend on me. We've got a large mortgage and they will be homeless. I am deeply sorry," he said.

The judge then raised the fact that after the assault Mills had told a police officer he would only get community service and a fine, and told the defendant: "You are about to go to jail. You need to wake up."

"You've got four children and you think you can ride this out? This has come home to roost for you. You need representation as you are facing an immediate custodial sentence."

Mills replied that he would get representation and the case was adjourned until December 2 when the sentence will be passed.

Dan joined road.cc in 2020, and spent most of his first year (hopefully) keeping you entertained on the live blog. At the start of 2022 he took on the role of news editor. Before joining road.cc, Dan wrote about various sports, including football and boxing for the Daily Express, and covered the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Part of the generation inspired by the 2012 Olympics, Dan has been 'enjoying' life on two wheels ever since and spends his weekends making bonk-induced trips to the petrol stations of the south of England.

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24 comments

Avatar
Robert Hardy | 1 year ago
1 like

Every day I read openly expressed cyclist hatred, why is it not considered hate speech like antisemitism and punished similarly.

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hawkinspeter replied to Robert Hardy | 1 year ago
1 like

Robert Hardy wrote:

Every day I read openly expressed cyclist hatred, why is it not considered hate speech like antisemitism and punished similarly.

Unfortunately, cycling isn't a protected characteristic (unlike race, sexuality or religion) and it is a choice that we make rather than something we naturally are. However, due to the number of KSIs that cyclists experience and the unwelcome aggression and nastiness from some drivers, I think it should be made a protected characteristic.

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peted76 | 1 year ago
1 like

What a horrible human. The fact he's told a police officer he thought he'd get community service and a fine and turned up at court without an representation just shows how little he cares.

I hope the judge does actually throw the book at him for this, although I suspect the book (GBH?) probably means a few months custodial. I wonder if this crime will result in any driving prosecution?

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joe9090 | 1 year ago
0 likes

I hope he gets some action in prison. Not the consensual sort of course. 

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hawkinspeter replied to joe9090 | 1 year ago
8 likes

joe9090 wrote:

I hope he gets some action in prison. Not the consensual sort of course. 

I've never understood why some people seek to glorify rape

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Rendel Harris replied to hawkinspeter | 1 year ago
8 likes

hawkinspeter wrote:

joe9090 wrote:

I hope he gets some action in prison. Not the consensual sort of course. 

I've never understood why some people seek to glorify rape

I agree, it's a comedy staple, particularly in the US, to joke about the fact that people will be at risk of rape in prison, very few people seem to pause and think how disgraceful it is that we can't seem to run a penal system in which it doesn't happen. 

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BIRMINGHAMisaDUMP | 1 year ago
4 likes

please give him a long sentence. 

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wtjs replied to BIRMINGHAMisaDUMP | 1 year ago
1 like

BIRMINGHAMisaDUMP wrote:

please give him a long sentence. 

The recent Panorama showed how driving into and killing 2 cyclists on a clear road in daylight followed by the standard "I didn't see them" gets you off with a comedy suspended sentence.

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Hirsute replied to wtjs | 1 year ago
1 like

5 years. So 2.5 years per dead husband.

Did they even name the killer ?

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wtjs replied to Hirsute | 1 year ago
1 like

No, that would imply there was something wrong with killing the odd cyclist. They did, however, show that driving straight into a cyclist negotiating a mini-roundabout in broad daylight, by the simple means of ignoring the roundabout and saying 'everybody ignores mini-roundabouts', sending the bike flying right up into the air and only miraculously not killing the cyclist gets you the terrifying awareness course and nothing else. Courses are online in Lancashire.

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eburtthebike | 1 year ago
14 likes

With no explanation for his viscious assault on a sick man unable to defend himself, Joshua Mills should not be allowed out in public until he has been cured of his insanity.  You can't just go around attacking random people and serve a few months in prison and then be allowed out to do it again.

Until he has been thoroughly examined by a panel of psychiatrists and been assessed as no longer a danger to the public, he should be kept in a secure environment.

"I am deeply sorry,"  That I was caught.

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OldRidgeback | 1 year ago
15 likes

If that's the way this guy behaves with a stranger then you have to ask how he behaves with his children. I find it hard to believe that someone with such a violent response to a cyclist would be safe around any children. 

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Morgoth985 | 1 year ago
19 likes

Four young children that depend on him?  Should be an aggravating factor, since he has neglected to consider their needs before committing his crime.

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IanMSpencer | 1 year ago
15 likes

I guess most people read this will have been threatened with assault simply for riding a bike, verbal abuse and threats are common, along with "educational close passes". Generally I haven't taken it too seriously but when a van driver cut in front of me to try and stop me, I was able to swerve round, spot the other side of the road had no traffic and give the van driver a sprint as he lept from his van (I had had the temerity to complain he had close passed me). He tried to push me off my bike (as someone over 60 and he was 30-40 and labourer of some kind) but he didn't make firm contact.

So, a cyclist getting beaten up - who needs a reason?

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wtjs | 1 year ago
12 likes

Ah! More confirmation bias, where it is alleged that we only note the incident because of the irrelevant fact that it was a BMW driver. This is the driver of white BMW PK14 HLW threatening to "fucking flatten" me and to deliberately knock me off my bike (all on video). After a lot of fuss from me he received a terrifying verbal warning from a very reluctant PC.

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brooksby | 1 year ago
13 likes

Quote:

I still, to this day, have no idea why he did what he did

"Cyclst", innit? surprise

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didsthewinegeek replied to brooksby | 1 year ago
3 likes

To be honest, it appears it could have been anybody that day. The defendant was going to give it to somebody, and that poor fellow ended up being the person on the end of his wrath. Somebody could have stopped their car on a yellow while he was behind and he would have dragged the person out of the car and given him a thumping. I bet it isn't the first time he's used his fists on a defenceless person. 

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Awavey replied to didsthewinegeek | 1 year ago
16 likes

part of me agrees, but part of me also recognises Ive experienced vastly more threats of violence,and acts of actual violence towards me as a cyclist in the last decade alone than Ive ever had from any other activity I partake in combined across the entirety of my life.

I got windscreen washed yesterday by an MGIFer at a set of traffic lights that were already red.

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ooblyboo replied to Awavey | 1 year ago
13 likes

Yup. I agree. Cyclists are an easier target. I have seen someone try to pull someone else out of a car in a road rage incident once while driving. But I have never had this happen to me as a driver. I have seen drivers threaten cyclists more times than I care to count.

This is a particularly appalling example though and it's good to see that the judge thinks it merits a custodial sentence.

Also, is it me or has the windscreen wash treatment become a lot more common?

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kil0ran replied to ooblyboo | 1 year ago
1 like

That's not windscreen wash

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kil0ran replied to Awavey | 1 year ago
9 likes

Absolutely. In my 20s and 30s I spent a lot of time on football awaydays, and I've had more threats and actual aggro from riding my bike in the last ten than in all that time. It's relentless and it stopped me road riding for a while.

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Secret_squirrel replied to didsthewinegeek | 1 year ago
7 likes

didsthewinegeek wrote:

To be honest, it appears it could have been anybody that day. The defendant was going to give it to somebody, and that poor fellow ended up being the person on the end of his wrath. 

Unless you can point to anything in the court records or testimony that supports that argument you should withdraw it. 
The facts are that he attacked a cyclist nothing more or less. 
 

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eburtthebike replied to Secret_squirrel | 1 year ago
2 likes

Secret_squirrel wrote:

didsthewinegeek wrote:

To be honest, it appears it could have been anybody that day. The defendant was going to give it to somebody, and that poor fellow ended up being the person on the end of his wrath. 

Unless you can point to anything in the court records or testimony that supports that argument you should withdraw it. 
The facts are that he attacked a cyclist nothing more or less. 

But he has given no reason for why he attacked the cyclist; he hasn't said it was because he was a cyclist, he hasn't said it was because the cyclist annoyed him, or that he scratched his car or he insulted his wife.  The postulation that he attacked the person at random seems to be at least credible.

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stevemaiden replied to didsthewinegeek | 1 year ago
5 likes

Unsubstantiated assumption imo. A few too many drivers see cyclists as 'the enemy' and an easy target for aggression and assault. These same people often see fellow drivers as compatriots. I've been on the recieving end of aggression and harasment 10X more often on my bike than in my car and I spend as much time in/on each. 

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