A MAN from Kinmel Bay was jailed after pursuing and threatening a motorcyclist, before crashing his car into another resident’s garden fence.

Graham Robinson, 69, of Foryd Road, was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment at Caernarfon Crown Court today (March 17).

He will serve a driving ban of three years and four months.

Prosecuting, Rosemary Proctor told the court that, at 4.30pm on August 5, 2022, Christine Lynch was sitting in the front room of her bungalow when she heard a “terrific bang” from outside.

Ms Lynch, whose house is situated near a dirt track by Llysfaen Avenue and Harrison Drive, found her garden in disarray, and the fence at the bottom of garden broken.

Beyond the fence, a blue Renault Kadjar car, embedded in vegetation, and a motorcycle on its side on the ground, could be seen.

Robinson had been driving the Renault vehicle – shortly before this crash, he had been crossing the Foryd Bridge from Rhyl to Kinmel Bay.

Liam Guest had been riding his motorcycle behind him, and the traffic was said to have been slow-moving.

Ms Proctor said that, once they both crossed the bridge, Mr Guest overtook Robinson.

As he rode alongside Robinson, the defendant had his car window down, and told Mr Guest: “You shouldn’t be driving down here”, before calling him a “p***k”, and spitting at him.

As Mr Guest passed Robinson, the defendant nudged him with the front of his car, causing the handlebars of the motorcycle to make contact with the defendant’s car.

Mr Guest then turned into a junction, waiting for the defendant to pass.

But dashcam footage shown in court showed that Robinson chased after Mr Guest, driving at excessive speed, through hatched lines, and on the wrong side of road at various points.

Robinson also shouted at Mr Guest: “I’m going to knock you off your bike.”

Afraid, Mr Guest drove away, but Robinson continued his pursuit, which eventually led them to the dirt path behind Ms Lynch’s garden, where they collided and hit her fence.

Closed circuit television footage shows Mr Guest walking away from the scene, and Robinson walking after him, telling him: “If you want it, come here”.

Robinson stopped following him soon after and remained at the scene, before police later arrived.

He told officers that his dashcam was broken and was not in his car, but later admitted that he had lied and, in fact, had unplugged it.

Mr Guest sustained cuts and grazes on the back of his legs from the crash, and was said to have suffered flashbacks of the incident since.

In his victim statement, he wrote: “These flashbacks are having an effect on my daily life. I struggle to fall asleep, and often wake up from nightmares of the vehicle colliding into me.

“I’m really worried about the effects that the incident has had on my life. The fear I feel is constant.”

Specialists have advised Mr Guest that he may need a further MRI scan, with doctors believing he has possibly developed sciatica.

He said he has not driven a motorcycle since the incident “out of fear”, and does not feel safe even as a passenger in a car.

The incident was also said to have affected his job in car valeting, as he has not been able to drive, or be driven, to customers’ houses since the incident, and suffers panic attacks.

Ms Lynch, meanwhile, said she found the incident “really upsetting”, and that the damage to her fence left her garden exposed, which made her feel “vulnerable”.

The repairs to the fence cost more than £2,750 in total.

Defending, Simon Killeen said that the behaviour during this incident of Robinson, who had no previous convictions, was “out of character”.

Mr Killeen said Robinson has minor mobility issues of his own, while his wife has “substantial medical issues”, suffering from bipolar disorder.

On the day of the incident, in fact, Mr Killeen said that Robinson’s wife was sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

Mr Killeen said: “She is relatively stable most of the time, but like people who suffer from this condition, they can go out of homeostasis, and suddenly, their behaviour becomes difficult or irrational.

“There was an element of additional stress, as she was not well at that time, leading her to be hospitalised on that very day.”

Mr Killeen invited the imposition of a suspended sentence, adding: “He’s highly unlikely to be back before this court again.

“He can, under the auspices of a suspended sentence, be punished within the community.”

Despite this, Judge Timothy Petts ruled that immediate custody was the only possible punishment for Robinson’s behaviour.

Judge Petts told Robinson: “Whatever was the start of it (dispute), you reacted in a grossly disproportionate way.

“Your driving was deliberate. You had an intention to knock him off.. It is no thanks to you that the injuries were not more serious than they were.

“I accept that this was out of character… it seems to have been linked to the stress of your wife’s illness at the time.

“But the reality is that, if someone loses it to such an extent that they drive as you did for some distance, appropriate punishment can only be achieved by immediate custody.

“I have reduced the sentence as much as I can.”

https://www.rhyljournal.co.uk/news/23393189.kinmel-bay-pensioner-told-motorcyclist-im-going-knock-off/

Old news: 17th March 2023

Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

> https://www.rhyljournal.co.uk/news/23393189.kinmel-bay-pensioner-told-motorcyclist-im-going-knock-off/

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Spike

QUOTE: A MAN from Kinmel Bay was jailed after pursuing and threatening a motorcyclist, before crashing his car into another resident’s garden fence. ENDS

Was the fence painted in luminous green?