A binman in the U.K. has been sentenced to 14 months in prison after he mistook a cyclist who was taking part in a local charity event for a “pervert” due to the fact he was completely naked.
Footage of the incident shows the victim cycling along a street as part of the World Naked Bike Ride event. As the man is cycling, 46-year-old Lee Turnage pulls up alongside him on a motorbike and hits him with force, knocking him down onto the pavement.
Turnage, who at the time worked as a part-time binman, was later apprehended by police although he didn’t come quietly. Authorities confronted him outside of a pub later in the day at which point he turned violent. Turnage reportedly had a knife in his backpack and when officers tried to confiscate it he told them, “You’re not taking that.”
He then attacked the officers, putting one in a headlock and kicking them in the abdomen. He dragged an officer to the floor and another even had a part of his ear torn off by the violent man.
Earlier this month Turnage was sentenced to 14 months in prison and suspended for two years according to an article from Metro.
Why did Lee Turnage punch the cyclist?
Defense barrister, Steven Dyble, claimed that Turnage’s actions were out of character for him. The binman hadn’t had any previous criminal convictions except for a traffic offence committed in France back in the 90s. Dyble explained that Turnage had “encountered a number of middle-aged men cycling in the nude,” and that “he reacted very badly to what he thought of, to use the vernacular, as perverts cycling naked in what was a residential area.”
While the defense suggested that Turnage was under the impression that the cyclists were perverts, the prosecution claimed that he had turned around on his uninsured motorbike and returned to commit the assault.
Fortunately, he did not hit the cyclist on the head, however the injuries sustained by the man were pretty severe. A victim impact statement which was read in court detailed the pain which Turnage had caused.
“The injuries sustained have impacted me greatly, especially in regard to my mobility.” It reads, “I have been struggling with sleep because of the pain in my leg – there is no let-up in it and it won’t go away.” The man claims that he is reliant on a stick for mobility now and that his leg is still swollen, “Some days it feels like that pain will never end.”
On top of his sentence, Turnage has been ordered to attend 15 rehabilitation days and 75 hours of unpaid work. He also had to pay the cyclist £2,000 compensation and pay a further £200 fine.
