Pensioner spared prison after driving at cyclist and leaving him injured at roadside

A pensioner from Derbyshire has been spared prison after driving into a cyclist and leaving him injured at the side of the road before driving off.

Kenneth Ambrose pleaded guilty to charges of dangerous driving and failing to stop following an accident, and was given a 16-month suspended sentence, banned from driving for three years, and ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work by a court in Derby.

Southern Derbyshire Magistrate's Court heard how Ambrose swerved towards that cyclist in the incident in April 2017, leaving the rider with ruptured ligaments and now needing to take four codeine tablets each day to cope with the pain.

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"The cyclist was in the cycle lane and saw a Volvo car reversing out if its driveway a short distance ahead of him," said Lynn Bickley, prosecuting, as reported by the Derby Telegraph.

"He swerved out and admits that he made a hand gesture to the motorist before carrying on his journey.

"But minutes later, the same Volvo car, driven by the defendant, goes past the rider before deliberately swerving in front of him and, the rider says, squeezing him off the road. The next moment he says he is on the ground lying in the roadside."

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Ambrose's lawyer, Nick Wright, said that the cyclist had undertaken his client who then "deviated towards the cyclist because he was distracted by this". Wright also said that there was "no malice" in his client's actions and that he "regrets the incident totally".

However District Judge Andrew Meachin had little sympathy for Ambrose in his verdict.

"It was your fault in the first place when you backed out of your driveway without due care and attention," Meachin said. "It is clear you drove towards the cyclist and then you drove off without a thought for anyone other than yourself."