Pensioner knocked down motorcyclist after pursuit
A PENSIONER chased a motorcyclist along streets and a dirt track before knocking him off his bike at more than 40mph.
Graham Robinson, 69, of Kinmel Bay, North Wales, who had no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and obstructing police, and was sentenced to eight months in prison.
The pursuit was caught on his Renault Kadjar’s dashcam. The footage shows Robinson weaving through traffic and narrow side streets as he tries to catch up with the motorcyclist.
Rosemary Proctor, prosecuting, told Caernarfon crown court that on the afternoon of Aug 5 a woman had been in the front room of her bungalow when she heard a “terrific bang” outside.
Her garden was in disarray, the fence broken, a blue car in the vegetation, and a motorbike on the ground.
Minutes before, Robinson had been crossing the bridge from Rhyl to Kinmel Bay and Liam Guest was behind him on a motorbike in slow-moving traffic. The court heard Mr Guest had overtaken Robinson but as he did so the pensioner allegedly shouted abuse and spat at him. The prosecution said Robinson had shouted: “I am going to knock you off your bike.”
A pursuit then ensued with Robinson’s dashcam showing he reached 50mph on side roads and 40mph on a dirt track where he collided with the motorcyclist. Miss Proctor said Mr Guest, a car valeter, was cut and grazed and complained of pain and flashbacks.
Robinson had at first lied to police that his dashcam was broken and not in his car, the prosecutor said.
Simon Killeen, defending, said Robinson was under stress because of his wife’s illness at the time. “What he did was completely out of character,” the barrister said. Robinson claimed Mr Guest had struck his wing mirror but the defendant made the “appalling” decision to pursue him afterwards, Mr Killeen added.
Judge Petts imposed a driving ban of three years and four months as he jailed Robinson.
He said: “For anyone to use their car as a weapon to settle a grudge with a more vulnerable road user is highly dangerous and the sentence has to reflect that.”