Driver left cyclist with serious brain injury in violent altercation on Edinburgh's Cowgate
Motorist pleads guilty to leaving cyclist unconscious in the road
A motorist left a cyclist with a serious brain injury following a violent road rage incident in Edinburgh.
Joseph Hedley became involved in a confrontation with cyclist Iain Brown before violently attacking the man without provocation at the Cowgate in September 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.
Mr Brown 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 police had put out an appeal to find the motorist involved and he handed himself into a local station two days later.
Hedley pleaded guilty to assaulting Mr Brown to his severe injury, permanent impairment and to the danger of his life when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday.
Prosecutor Peter Finnon told the court the altercation between the motorist and the cyclist took place at around 6.20pm on Friday, September 20, 2024.
The fiscal depute said: “Mr Brown was cycling from the Cowgate and there was an altercation with the driver of a vehicle, that driver was Mr Hedley.
“Mr Hedley’s partner exited the vehicle and there were words exchanged between the partner and Mr Brown.”
The shocking attack was captured by several local residents using their mobile phones and the Mr Finnon played some of the footage to the court.
He added: “Mr Brown was on the road there and the police and ambulance services were contacted.
“First aid was applied to Mr Brown and he had lost consciousness for a short time and was taken to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.
“Mr Hedley left [the scene] and attended at a police station on September 22 around 10pm after he found out police were looking for him.”
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.
Mr Finnon said the medics had deemed the injuries to be “very much to the potential of danger to Mr Brown’s life”.
Defence agent Calum Turner said he would reserve all his mitigation to the sentencing hearing.
Sheriff Fergus Thomson told Hedley: “I am going to call for a full reports and I am also going to continue your bail meantime.
“However, you should not take that as a conclusion that I have in any way decided what to do with this matter given the seriousness of what I have seen.
“All options are very much open to the court.”
Sentence was deferred for the preparation of a social work report and restriction of liberty order assessment to next month.