Driver Admits Throwing Cyclist to the Ground in Viral Video Attack

A driver has pleaded guilty to an attack that left a cyclist with a fractured skull and bleeding on the brai… an assault caught on video that has been viewed more than 26 million times.

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Video further below 👇

Joseph Hedley, 39, admitted assaulting cyclist Iain Brown to his severe injury, permanent impairment, and to the danger of his life when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in Scotland on Tuesday.

The attack happened around 6:25 p.m. on September 20, 2024, at High School Wynd near the Cowgate in Edinburgh’s Old Town. Bystander footage shows Brown, then 34, stopped on his bike in front of a white hatchback when Hedley steps out, grabs him by the neck with both hands, and slams him to the ground. Brown’s head strikes the road, and the driver returns to his car and leaves as the cyclist lies motionless.

Prosecutor Peter Finnon told the court Brown suffered a traumatic brain injury, a fractured skull, and an acute bleed on the brain, with medics deeming the injuries “very much to the potential of danger to Mr Brown’s life.”

The video spread rapidly online, and Hedley, from Kirkcaldy in Fife, handed himself in to police two days later after learning officers were looking for him.

Sheriff Fergus Thomson deferred sentencing for about a month for background reports and continued Hedley’s bail, telling him: “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.”

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