35-year-old driver given 14-month jail sentence after he intentionally drove into a group of cyclists waiting at the finish of an event
A man has been jailed for 14 months at Chelmsford Crown Court, on Thursday, June 15, for dangerous driving following a road traffic collision in October 2016. Keith Ancona, 35, from Waterside Road, Maldon was driving a white Audi in Batts Road, Steeple, on Sunday, October 2 when he hit five cyclists, causing injury and damage to the riders. Ancona had been involved in a verbal argument with the cyclists resulting in him making a threat towards them. He then purposefully drove into the riders who were taking part in an event organised by the British Cycling Association. Ancona failed to stop at the scene but handed himself in at Chelmsford police station five days later. He originally pleaded not guilty at his first hearing at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court but on Tuesday, 13 June, 2017, changed his plea to guilty. As a result of his guilty plea, Ancona received six months in prison for dangerous driving and a further eight months for causing actual bodily harm, plus a 22 month driving ban. Investigating Officer Pc Alan Lamb said: “This is a great result where I feel justice has been served for the victims. The result also serves to provide reassurance for the rest of the cycling community and shows we do not tolerate this sort of behaviour and will take action against dangerous drivers. “We had CCTV footage of this incident, which was provided to us by a member of the public. This proved to be an invaluable asset to our investigations and is something we would encourage everyone to send across to us if they have video evidence of an incident. If you want to send in video or dash cam footage of a road incident, please email it to driving.complaints@essex.pnn.police.uk.”
Posted by Essex Police on Friday, June 30, 2017
An Essex man who purposefully drove his Audi A5 into a group of racing cyclists has been given a 14-month jail sentence and a 22-month driving ban.
A video released by Essex Police shows the moment that Keith Ancona, 35, from Maldon used his car to knock over five cyclists after he refused to wait until a race had finished.
The incident took place in Sunday October 2 2016 on Batts Road, Steeple. Ancona had been involved in an argument with some of the riders present at the event as he had driven past a roadblock.
One of the riders had attempted to prevent Ancona from continuing in his car by standing in front of the vehicle. However, Ancona accelerated into a group of riders, causing injury and damaging their bikes.
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Ancona then failed to stop at the scene, and the video shot by a roadside spectator at the cycling event shows him driving off at speed.
Ancona was with his partner and two daughters, who were on their way to a birthday party, reports the Maldon Standard.
Ancona handed himself into police five days after the incident.
He original pleaded not guilty at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court, but subsequently altered his plea to guilty of dangerous driving and causing actual bodily harm.
“This is a great result where I feel justice has been served for the victims,” said investigating officer PC Alan Lamb.
“The result also serves to provide reassurance for the rest of the cycling community and shows we do not tolerate this sort of behaviour and will take action against dangerous drivers.
“We had CCTV footage of this incident, which was provided to us by a member of the public. This proved to be an invaluable asset to our investigations and is something we would encourage everyone to send across to us if they have video evidence of an incident.”