Cork restaurateur jailed for five months over ‘classic road rage’ assault on cyclist

Peyman Nasser was also briefly jailed for contempt of court after repeatedly interrupting the judge during his sentencing hearing

Peyman Nasser, 60, was also taken into custody for a period for contempt of court after repeatedly interrupting the judge during his sentencing hearing. File picture: Chani Anderson

A Cork restaurateur has been sentenced to five months in prison for what a judge described as a “classic case of road rage” after he assaulted a cyclist and engaged in threatening behaviour.

Peyman Nasser, 60, of The Downs, Broadale, Douglas Court, Cork, was also taken into custody for a period for contempt of court after repeatedly interrupting the judge during his sentencing hearing.

Mr Nasser indicated that he will appeal the prison sentence imposed on him at Cork District Court.

Judge Philip O’Leary finalised the case at 2.30pm on Wednesday, having directed that Mr Nasser be taken into custody some two hours earlier for contempt of court after he interrupted the sentencing on a number of occasions.

Judge O’Leary said: “I am giving you an opportunity to apologise for your behaviour,” in order to purge the contempt. Mr Nasser replied: “Apologise for what?”

After a trial, the accused was convicted of assaulting a cyclist and engaging in threatening behaviour. The judge imposed a three-month sentence on him for the threatening behaviour and a two-month sentence, to run consecutively, for the assault.

Judge describes ‘classic road rage’ incident

At the conclusion of the trial, where the judge heard evidence from the motorist, the cyclist and eyewitnesses at the junction of Washington Street and Grand Parade, Judge O’Leary said: “I am satisfied he is guilty of assault and Section 6 (engaging in threatening behaviour). It is a classic road rage incident. He was completely out of hand. The cyclist was right to take the keys out.

“He (Mr Nasser) was threatening and aggressive. He did not care whether he hurt the cyclist. He lifted his bike by the saddle and knocked him to the ground and fell on top of him. It was a road rage incident. Your carry-on after – your intimidation of the injured party – was outrageous.”

Solicitor Donal Daly said: “He was never involved in an incident like this previously. He is 60 and is a restaurateur.”

That was what Mr Daly said on the day of the trial in April. On Wednesday, September 9, during the sentencing hearing, Mr Daly applied to come off record as the accused’s solicitor. Judge O’Leary gave him permission to come off record.

Cyclist said he felt ‘under attack’

On Sunday afternoon, June 6 2024, a middle-aged cyclist, Thomas Sanctuary, said he tapped on a window of the car to see what was wrong as the driver appeared to be gesticulating.

He said the motorist “had no regard for anyone else on that sunny Sunday and that is why we are here”.

He said he caught the keys and threw them in the direction of the footpath by the English Market on Grand Parade because he feared the defendant would follow him.

“I just felt under attack,” Mr Sanctuary said.

Mr Nasser testified that he was driving slowly and saw the bicycle very close to the car. He said he commented at the time: “You are going to hurt yourself, mate.”

He said the cyclist punched his car – “all of a sudden the big bangs coming”.

He said he tried to de-escalate the situation but wanted to know why the cyclist ‘punched’ the window of the car, “not to physically interact with him – that is not the way to do things.”

The defendant said he never recovered the car key taken and thrown by the cyclist and that it was only with his partner’s spare key that he drove away afterwards.

He said he was the one who phoned gardaí.

Eyewitness Aaron Meade, who did not know any of the parties, testified: “Mr Nasser came after the cyclist. He lifted up the back wheel fully off the ground and tipped it over. The cyclist fell. Mr Nasser seems to have tripped on top of the cyclist, not necessarily intentionally. The struggle was more trying to disentangle themselves more than physically assault.

“He was demanding keys. You could see the cyclist was very nervous, looking under cars. Mr Nasser kept insisting, ‘You get those keys’. It was under threat of violence is what I took from it.”