A bible student who threatened a dustman with a knife during a road rage incident has been jailed for 15 months. Simon Luke, 35, of Polsue Way, Tresillian, Cornwall, overtook a line of six vehicles when he was late for an appointment, Truro Crown Court heard. When refuse collector Treve Stoddern confronted Luke at traffic lights, the bible student pulled out a knife and Mr Stoddern received cuts to his hands.
Judge Stephen Wildblood QC told Luke: "This was knife crime. There was no reason for you to take the knife with you out of your car." Mr Stoddern said he intended to give Luke a piece of his mind because "he had driven so dangerously and could have killed someone", but Luke accused Mr Stoddern of being "super aggressive".
Defence lawyer Piers Norsworthy said Luke's behaviour was caused by frustration, but he was not a violent man. "He made an awful error, a big mistake, the injury caused was by his reckless not deliberate actions," he said. "He was frustrated behind a dustcart and the beeping horns and Mr Stoddern's behaviour in the cab."
Luke, who has no previous convictions, was described in court as a "sincere Christian man" and a "kind and compassionate man" by his bible college friends. The judge, sitting in Exeter Crown Court, ordered Luke to pay his victim £500 compensation, even though he accepted there had been some provocation.
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