Driver who left cyclist with brain injury following road rage incident avoids jail

A Scottish driver who left a cyclist with a serious brain injury following a road rage incident in Edinburgh has avoided jail.

Joseph Hedley became involved in a confrontation with the cyclist before violently attacking the man without provocation at the city’s Cowgate on September 20, 2024.

Hedley, 39, was seen exiting his vehicle and approaching his victim before grabbing hold of him by the neck and violently throwing him to the ground.

The victim smashed his head off the road and suffered serious head injuries, including a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain.

Hedley then left the 34-year-old cyclist lying unconscious in the middle of the road before getting back into his car and driving off.

Hedley, from Kirkcaldy, Fife, subsequently found out that the police had issued an appeal to find the driver involved, and he handed himself in to a local station two days later.

Hedley pleaded guilty to assaulting the victim to his severe injury, permanent impairment and to the danger of his life when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court earlier this month.

The court was told the cyclist had suffered several serious injuries, including a traumatic brain injury, a fractured skull and an acute bleed on the brain.

The injuries were deemed to be a potential danger to the man’s life.

Hedley was sentenced on Tuesday where he was told he “avoided a jail sentence by the narrowest of margins”.

He was instead given a two-year supervision order and ordered to stay indoors between 7pm and 7am.