A man who punched a disabled woman in the head and stole her mobile phone during a road rage incident in Cwmbran has been jailed for five years and nine months.
Ryan Whitehead, 32, of Clarence Place, Newport, pleaded guilty to robbery and dangerous driving. The attack took place on July 18 last year when Whitehead, driving a black Audi A3, "took offence" at the way Karen Bulmer was driving.
He drove up close behind her car and revved his engine in an aggressive and intimidating way. The victim, who was driving to a police station at the time, slowed down and said: "Come on, we'll go to the police station."
Details of the attack
As she crossed a roundabout, Whitehead overtook her and swerved across three lanes of traffic as she pulled into the police station. Prosecutor James Evans told Cardiff Crown Court that Whitehead waited at a roundabout and, when Mrs Bulmer pulled back out, he pulled in front of her and stopped his car in the carriageway.
He and a woman got out of his vehicle and approached the victim's car door, which had the window open. Whitehead reached through the window and punched Mrs Bulmer to the right temple. He then stole her mobile phone from the car and said: "You're not so f****** clever now you slag." The woman with Whitehead was also shouting at the victim and rummaging through bags of shopping.
Whitehead was later traced and arrested, and appeared surprised in his interview when he learnt his DNA was found in the victim's car.
Victim impact statement
Tearfully reading out her own victim personal statement to the court, Mrs Bulmer said: "At the time of the incident I was just over a month away from my 60th birthday. I was attacked by a man around 30-years-old. The physical attack and robbery was the result of a road rage incident. I'm not sure what created the rage towards me.
"He was driving up behind me and was screaming and gesticulating. I still don't know what I did to make him so angry. In the final part of the attack was him punching me in the head, calling me a f****** slag and telling me how stupid I was and stealing my phone. The incident was unprovoked and I'm still not sure why it happened.
"It happened in a number of minutes but those minutes completely changed the way I live my life. I'm still frightened, anxious, fearful and distressed over what happened that day. Since that day, I'm still not the same person. The incident plays in my mind and I ask what did I do wrong? I genuinely believe he is dangerous the way he attacked me, a 59-year-old disabled woman. The speed and aggressive language used and the fact he punched me in the head and stole my phone while I was sitting in my car. I was no threat to him."
Sentence and disqualification
The court heard Whitehead has 22 previous convictions, including offences of dangerous driving and a robbery committed at a Spar shop when he was a youth.
Whitehead was sentenced to five years and nine months imprisonment and was also disqualified from driving for six years and six months upon his release from prison.
