A man slammed a driver’s head in their car door during a violent road rage attack.
Graham Evans, 35, appeared at Swindon Magistrates’ Court today (4 July) for sentencing after previously pleading guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Prosecutor Tom Power said the defendant, of Holliday Close, Abbey Meads, was out in his vehicle on 20 March last year – when he got into an argument with another driver.
The disagreement escalated into violence when Evans managed to slam the man’s car door on his head. He sustained a cut to his left eyebrow, an abrasion to the rear of his head and clouded vision.
Following the incident, the victim required a CT scan to investigate a bright white light affecting his vision. Eye doctors discovered that he had bruising to the layers of his eye.
“It’s a fairly serious case, the car door was essentially used as a weapon”, Mr Power said. Adding: “Eye injuries are serious and unpleasant in nature… this was quite a serious assault.”
The court heard that The Range worker has a previous conviction for actual bodily harm in 2009.
Emma Hillier, defending, said her client accepts he has anger management issues and is getting help. He is engaged in counselling and his GP referred him to IPSUM after the incident.
She said Evans is remorseful and accepts “that he could have behaved differently”.
Ms Hillier added that his wife supported him in the public gallery, but the pair are currently living separately. She said that he is looking at starting a new job for a tyre company in Bridgewater.
Sentencing him to 26 weeks in prison suspended for 18 months, District Judge Joanna Dickens said: “This was an incredibly serious road rage offence.
“Whatever view you take on someone’s driving, behaving in this appalling, violent and really quite terrifying manner, is not acceptable.
“You used the car door as a weapon. It was highly dangerous, the head is a vulnerable part of the body. You are very lucky that injuries were not more serious.”
Judge Dickens also imposed 150 hours of unpaid work to be completed over 22 days, 35 rehabilitation activity requirement days, £200 compensation to the victim and a £138 surcharge.
No costs were imposed due to the defendant’s significant debts, in the “many thousands”.
