by A road rage driver who was filmed screaming abuse at a female motorist after she beeped at him for cutting her off has faced a possible jail sentence.
Peter Abbott got out of his car and came into contact with Samantha Isaacs’ vehicle after a minor incident outside a Tesco petrol station.
A horrified Mrs Isaacs, who runs a TV production company and has worked with the Prince of Wales and Alan Titchmarsh, locked her doors and began filming Abbott.
The 60-year-old punched her windscreen before unleashing a verbal tirade.
This man was upset with another driver somewhere in Bournemouth last August. Footage from Becky Ryan whose mother was in the car. Don’t drive, my friend! Scary as hell. pic.twitter.com/3c2IphRCJS
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) September 25, 2023
He called out to her “will you see me, you f—ing tart?” He then called her a “slag” and a “whore” and put his head up against the windscreen.
A male motorist intervened and bullied Abbott. The driver told Abbott “what’s wrong with you, she’s her own woman”, to which he replied “she’s a bloody annoying woman”.
The footage was shown at Poole magistrates’ court in Dorset where Abbott went on trial for using threatening words or behavior to cause alarm, distress or fear of violence.
He denied the offence, saying “it is not against the law to be angry” but was found guilty in court.
Sentencing was adjourned for reports but a district judge warned Abbott he could go to prison as it was the “most serious offence” of this type.
Afterwards Mrs Isaacs, who is in her late 50s, said: “He is a terrible man and a bully. I didn’t want it to go this far, I don’t want him to do it with anyone else.”
The road rage incident happened on August 25 last year when Mrs Isaacs was leaving the petrol station at Tesco Extra in Bournemouth, Dorset, just before lunchtime and Abbott, who was shopping in the flagship store, pulled out in front of her.
The mum-of-three told the court: “I had just pulled out and a car came out of the shopping area and I absolutely cut up to the point where I had to slam on my brakes as hard as my all items from the passenger seat on the floor.
“I saw my horn as if to say a ‘look out’ kind of thing. He turned around in the car and started gesticulating, then he got out of the car and started shouting at me.
“He said what I thought I was doing and started hitting my car and calling me a lot of names like f—ing slag and whore.
“He was banging his fists on the windscreen and my door. I was scared so I started videoing it.
“I wanted to show him that I was recording everything to stop him. I had the doors locked, I wasn’t getting out of my car.
“I didn’t think it was going to kill me or anything but it was getting bigger and I wanted it on camera. I felt unsafe.
“I’d think after it’s been so long I’d be fine, but it’s not very nice to watch [the video].
“He drove out onto the road and stopped the car again. When we turned left at the traffic lights he stopped the car again. I caught him and then realized how stupid he was because I realized that meant he was following me. That’s when I called the police.”
District judge Orla Austin asked Mrs Isaacs what long-term impact it had. She said: “Whenever I’m in the car by myself I always keep the doors locked, I’ve made sure my dashcam works.
“I work in television, mainly in London, and my daughter has had to do more of my work because I don’t want to drive.
“Everyone seems to be so aggressive on the roads these days, I don’t want to be put in this situation again.”
The court heard Abbott was identified as the registered keeper of the vehicle involved in the incident and was interviewed by police in October.
He told the court: “This incident was caused by the behavior of the witness. Despite what she has said under oath in this court, she only sounded her horn once, sounded it several times and flashed her lights, which I consider to be road rage.
“I believed there was enough space so I pulled out. I looked at her in my rear view mirror, she was flashing her lights and sounding her horn and making rude gestures at me.
“Rightly or wrongly I’m the type of person if someone behaves like that to me I’m going to want to say something, I’ll call them out on it. I will do it with anyone, regardless of gender, size or age.
“I don’t like people filming other people without their permission, I think it’s a violation of their privacy.
‘It was a goading smile’
“The only reason the incident didn’t stop there is because I didn’t see any distress at all. What I saw was that she was laughing at me and I was filming her after I asked her to stop. It wasn’t a nervous laugh, it was a goading laugh.
“Anger is not a rational function. I regret my behavior but there are some statements that I dispute.”
Shami Duggal, prosecuting, said: “In the footage you were extremely verbally abusive, threatening and intimidating.
“Isn’t that reasonable behavior?”
Abbott replied: “I don’t agree, but it wasn’t without reason. It’s not against the law to be angry.”
Judge Orla Austin said she found Mrs Isaacs to be an “entirely credible witness” and found Abbott guilty.
She said: “It’s very clear to me from the footage that he was pouring on his car. The level of anger was extremely high.
“I don’t believe you, I see you did all those things and you were completely threatening. The anger at the incident was profound.
“Your intention was to harass, frighten and distress her. She was alone, you targeted her repeatedly, there was constant abuse and it took a toll on her.”
She warned Abbott, of Bournemouth, that he faces prison because the incident was the “most serious” of this type of offense and that he put the victim through a trial despite “overwhelming evidence”.
Sentencing was adjourned until later this month for probation to assess Abbott.
