A road-rage driver who was filmed screaming at a terrified female motorist after she beeped him for cutting her up was today told to take an anger management course.
Peter Abbott, 60, got out of his car, approached Samantha Isaacs outside a Tesco petrol station in Bournemouth, Dorset and started banging on her windscreen.
The driver then launched into a foul-mouthed tirade where he branded frightened mother-of-three Mrs Isaacs, 56, who runs a TV production and has worked with Prince William and Alan Titchmarsh, a ‘f***ing tart’, ‘slag’ and ‘whore’.
Abbott was spared jail at Poole Magistrates’ Court today for using threatening words or behaviour to cause alarm, distress or fear of violence after blaming his temper on being ‘isolated’ due to his work as a translator at home. But he was ordered to attend an anger management programme and pay £300 compensation to Mrs Isaacs.
Abbott told the court he had been ‘isolated for quite a long time’ because his work sees him often spend weeks ‘holed up in my apartment in front of the computer’.
He added that he struggled with relationships and had no contact with any friends or family at the time of the incident, and should have sought counselling for his temper.
But District Judge Orla Austin said: ‘This was an extremely serious matter. Mrs Isaacs was a lone female in her car, it was a sustained incident, your level of anger and aggression was extremely high and your language was extremely offensive.
Road rage driver Peter Abbott was filmed screaming at mother-of-three Samantha Isaacs outside a Tesco petrol station in Bournemouth, Dorset, on August 25 last year
Peter Abbott leaving Poole Magistrates’ Court today after being spared an immediate jail term
The victim, mother-of-three Samantha Isaacs, is pictured outside Poole Magistrates’ Court
Mrs Isaacs was leaving the petrol station (shown with the green arrow in the picture above), when Abbott pulled out in front of her (red arrow) causing her to slam on her brakes
‘You put her in significant fear and it has had an ongoing effect on her life and bystanders who intervened.’
The road rage incident happened when Mrs Isaacs was leaving the petrol station at the Tesco Extra just before lunchtime on August 25 last year.
Self-employed translator, Abbott, who had been shopping in the main store, pulled out in front of her – causing her to slam on her brakes.
Mrs Isaacs honked her horn, prompting Abbott to make rude gestures at her before stopping his Toyota car and getting out.
Video footage filmed by Mrs Isaacs showed he shouted at her: ‘Can you f**king see me, you f**king tart?’ He then called her a ‘slag’ and a ‘whore’ and put his head up against the windscreen.
A male motorist went to intervene and called Abbott a bully. The man also told him: ‘What is wrong with you? It’s a woman on her own.’
But Abbott replied: ‘She’s a f**king bloody annoying woman’.
Peter Abbott outside Poole Magistrates’ Court today, where he was given a suspended jail term
During the trial, Mrs Isaacs told the court: ‘I had just pulled out and a car came out of the shopping area and completely cut me up to the point where I had to slam on my brakes so hard all my belongings came off the passenger seat onto the floor.
‘I beeped my horn as if to say ‘look out’ type of thing. He turned round in the car and started gesticulating, then he got out of the car and started shouting at me.
‘He was banging with both his fists on the windscreen and my door. I was frightened so I started videoing it.’
Robert Salame, prosecuting, read a victim impact statement from Mrs Isaacs which said: ‘I don’t trust any motorist now. My confidence in driving has taken a huge knock.
‘Considering I drove 30,000 miles a year for work, I am now turning away work that is further afield. I am so angry he has taken my job pleasure away from me. I am scared all the time when I drive now.’
Abbott was described as a ‘bookish’ man in court but he accepted that he also had a problem with his temper that needed addressing.
Video footage filmed by Mrs Isaacs showed Abbot shouted at her: ‘Can you f**king see me?’
Representing himself, he said: ‘I have been isolated for quite a long time due to the nature of my work.
‘I’m a translator, written documents only so I spend a large number of hours, days and weeks, holed up in my apartment in front of the computer.
‘Since I have been back in the UK I have noticed that my relationships with people have been an issue. At the time of the incident I didn’t have any contact with friends or family.
‘I knew I had a problem with my temper before this.
‘If I had been sensible I would have sought some kind of counselling before but I have always put my work ahead of everything else.’
Abbott said he regretted his part in the incident, but claimed the media coverage of the case had ‘destroyed’ his professional career.
The 60-year-old banged on her windscreen with his fists before unleashing the tirade
He added: ‘I have always expressed regret and remorse for my part in the incident and fully hold my hands up to that and realise it was wrong and I am prepared to accept the consequences of that behaviour.’
A reference from a long-term friend who is a professor described Abbott as a ‘peaceful, introverted and bookish man’.
Abbott, from Bournemouth, had denied using threatening words or behaviour to cause alarm, distress or fear of violence but was found guilty after a trial.
He was given a 12-week prison sentence suspended for 18 months. Abbott was also banned from driving for 18 months and ordered to pay £300 trial costs.