Angry driver dragged athlete off her bicycle

A YORKSHIRE motorist who was undertaken by a semi-professional triathlete as she swerved while cycling pulled her off her bicycle in rage, a court heard.

Martyn Lee, 46, was driving his Ford Transit when he was undertaken by Caroline Livesey, who had altered her course to avoid a dog which had run into the road.

This made Lee, a plumber, swerve around her into oncoming traffic.

The court heard he drove further up the road, jumped out of his van and pulled Mrs Livesey from her bicycle as she passed. She suffered a spinal fracture and cuts and bruises to her lower back.

The attack occurred in Pateley Bridge, near Harrogate, as the pair travelled along Low Wath Road at around 1pm on May 11. The court heard Mrs Livesey had been at the vital point of gaining qualification for a place in the 2017 triathlon World Championships prior to the crash. In a victim impact statement, Mrs Livesey, of Harrogate, said: “I have lost earnings – I lost out in prize money for qualification to these events and I am still in part-time employment.”

Ayisha Smart, mitigating, said: “He says that he merely pulled over further up the road to try and speak to the victim, but the build-up of stress he was under at work let his anger get the better of him.”

Lee, of Lofthouse, admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm at a previous hearing.

He was due to be sentenced yesterday but Recorder Nicholas Barker told him he must prove he can work to pay compensation to Mrs Livesey or face a possible prison sentence. Lee was granted bail and will be sentenced in January 2018.