Kenneth Warrington, of Station Road, Letterbreen, was fined a total of £400 and disqualified from driving for two months
A 55-year-old lorry driver accused of attacking a group of off-duty policemen who were cycling towards Enniskillen has been banned from driving.
Kenneth Warrington, of Station Road, Letterbreen, was fined a total of £400 and disqualified from driving for two months after he admitted to careless driving and two counts of common assault.
Outlining the background of the case, a prosecutor stated that on March 27, this year, at around 1pm, a group of cyclists were travelling in the direction of Enniskillen along the Sligo Road.
Warrington was also driving towards Enniskillen and a larger coach passed the three cyclists.
As Warrington attempted to pass the group he sounded his horn several times and went so close to them that the front cyclist was forced to stop and alter his course.
The defendant travelled further along the road and stopped a short distance later and got out and left his driver door open.
He forced the cyclists to brake and he became agitated and started to clench his fists and shouted foul language at them.
One of the cyclists held out his arm to attempt to defuse the matter and Warrington pushed his arm away. This was classed as a minor assault.
After a short confrontation, Warrington left and drove off.
The court heard that two of the cyclists were off duty policemen and recognised him from a previous matter.
Two days later, they called to his home and spoke to him about the incident. He admitted being the driver and admitted pushing his arm, though the cyclist did not sustain any injuries.
Defence solicitor Myles McManus said: “It was a momentary outburst of anger. He owned a haulage company for many years which went into liquidation.”
District Judge Nigel Broderick said the incident was “nasty” and could be described as road rage.
“Whatever your sense of grievance is no justification to stop and confront them. The emotions got the better of you,” he added.
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