Angry dog walker is jailed after pushing cyclist off his bike causing 5 broken ribs

A CYCLIST suffered five broken ribs when he was pushed from his bike by an angry dog walker who believed he was riding too fast along the Kenilworth Greenway.

Paul Oliver, 49, first confronted the rider Jaroslaw Zachwieja as he road past on an electric bike at about 20kph and swore at him while urging him to slow down.

Mr Zachwieja continued on his ride before turning round and heading back to where he had parked his car, and again came upon Oliver on one side of the path and two women on the other side, who it later emerged were Oliver’s wife Sarah, 45 and their friend Lynnet Armstrong, 55, of Copt Oak Close, Coventry.

As Mr Zachwieja rode past Oliver a second time, he felt ‘a massive blow’ from Oliver to the right side of his body, knocking him off his bike and leaving him screaming in pain on the ground.

Oliver then grabbed him by his shoulders and lifted him partly off the ground before throwing him back down.

He then left the scene, but his wife and Armstrong stayed and called for the police and an ambulance. Mr Zachwieja was taken to hospital where he was found to have five broken ribs and a broken shoulder blade, as well as bad grazing to his body and face.

However, Sarah Oliver and Armstrong claimed the attacker was an unknown person when the emergency services arrived.

The police then learned the truth and went to the couple’s home the following day to take a witness statement from Mrs Oliver, when they arrested the couple.

Oliver, a company director of Cromwell Lane, Coventry, was jailed for six months after pleading guilty at Warwick Crown Court to inflicting grievous bodily harm on his victim Jaroslaw Zachwieja.

Sarah Oliver and Lynnet Armstrong were both charged with perverting the course of justice, but pleaded guilty to an alternative offence of assisting an offender.

Sarah Oliver was fined £160 and Armstrong was given a conditional discharge for 12 months - but they were each ordered to pay £1,200 costs.

And when an officer spoke to Mrs Oliver at her home, she became upset and said: “I’m sorry, we shouldn’t have lied.”

Ian Speed, defending, said: “The injuries were totally not intended, and could have been partly caused by the speed he was travelling at. If he had been almost stationary he would not have suffered such injury.”

Arguing for a suspended sentence, Mr Speed said Oliver was the director of a groundworks company which was heavily reliant on him.

Jailing Paul Oliver, Recorder William Davis told him: “You believed he was riding too fast, given the width of the path. I accept there may be legitimate disagreement on what would be a safe speed to pass.

“You appeared to be angry, and as he went past you pushed him, causing him to fall off his bike.

“Although it was not premeditated, it was a deliberate push... which resulted in very serious injuries.

“Appropriate punishment can only be achieved by the imposition of an immediate sentence of imprisonment.”

And he told the two women: “Both of you lied about what happened. Fortunately the truth was quickly uncovered.”

You appeared to be angry, and as he went past you pushed him, causing him to fall off his bike.

Recorder William Davis