A motorist who left a cyclist with a brain injury after a road rage attack has avoided a jail term.
Joseph Hedley grabbed Iain Brown by the throat and threw him to the ground when the pair clashed at the Cowgate in Edinburgh on September 20, 2024.
Hedley, 39, and his partner then got back into his car and fled the area leaving the stricken cyclist unconscious in the road. Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told Mr Brown suffered a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain and was taken to hospital for emergency treatment.
The incident was captured on mobile phone footage and posted on social media and the motorist handed himself in to police following a public appeal to trace him.
Hedley, from Kirkcaldy, appeared for sentencing after previously pleading guilty to assault to severe injury, permanent impairment and to the danger of life.
Solicitor Calum Turner, defending, told the court his client ‘did not intend to inflict the injuries Mr Brown suffered’ and has not driven a vehicle since the incident.
Joseph Hedley pled guilty to assault to severe injury, permanent impairment and to the danger of life.
Joseph Hedley grabbed Iain Brown by the throat and threw him to the ground when the pair clashed at the Cowgate in Edinburgh
The lawyer said the attack took place after the cyclist had shouted abuse at the driver and his passengers and had shone a safety light into his car. Mr Turner said a passenger in the vehicle had suffered a seizure leading to Hedley leaving his vehicle to confront Mr Brown.
Sheriff Fergus Thomson said the motorist had inflicted ‘significant injuries’ to the cyclist but ‘by the narrowest of margins’ he was willing to impose an alternative to a custodial sentence.
Hedley was placed on a two-year supervision order and will be tagged and have to stay within his home address between 7pm and 7am for the next 12 months.
Previously fiscal depute Peter Finnon played footage of the attack on the cyclist to the court, which heard he suffered a traumatic brain injury, a fractured skull and an acute bleed on the brain.
The fiscal said medics who treated the cyclist at the city’s Royal Infirmary had deemed his injuries to be ‘very much to the potential of danger to Mr Brown’s life’.
Following the sentencing, Faith Currie, procurator fiscal for Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders, said: ‘The actions of Joseph Hedley were horrific and shocking and could easily have had more devastating consequences. But he has now been brought fully to account for his crimes.’
