Cyclist 'beaten to a pulp' in road rage attack on Hull's Spring Bank

A CYCLIST who was savagely beaten in a road rage attack says he is lucky to be alive.

Philip Elliott, 51, was biking home from work along Spring Bank, west Hull, when Daniel Miller leapt from a car and attacked him.

Miller, 22, repeatedly punched Mr Elliot and slammed his head into the ground.

Onlookers feared the cyclist was dead after the horrific assault.

He was left unconscious on the ground and suffered a fractured cheekbone and a fractured eye socket.

Mr Elliott said: “I had just finished work and was riding my bike home as normal. A car pulled up in front of me and just stopped abruptly by the kerb and this man started shouting.

“I actually thought he was shouting at somebody else.

“I was about to ride around the car when he punched me.

“The last thing I remember is getting punched in the face.

“He beat me to a pulp. He really went to town on me. I feel lucky to be alive.”

Miller had drunk ten pints of lager in the Hole in the Wall pub in Spring Bank, before he was collected by his girlfriend in her car.

Hull Crown Court heard she pulled in front of Mr Elliott, nearly hitting him.

Prosecutor Nick Adlington said: “Miller blamed the cyclist for cycling in the middle of the road without lights, thereby causing the near collision.

“He decamped from the car and punched the complainant a number of times.

“He punched him to the ground and appeared to grab him by the scruff of his neck and punched him a number of times while he was on the ground.

“In between punches, Mr Elliot’s head was being banged on the floor.

“He was unable to defend himself and was bleeding heavily from his head.”

Witness Katie Fairweather sounded her car horn to try to stop Miller, of Dent Road, west Hull.

She said: “He picked him up by the scruff of the neck and smashed him on to the floor.

“He did it five or six times. I thought he was dead, as his body was limp and floppy.”

Mr Elliot, a hygiene operative, was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary for emergency treatment.

He said: “What he did to me was wrong. I was just cycling home when he violently attacked me.

“I suffered serious facial fractures and had to take time off work.

“They did a CT scan and told me I had bleeding on the brain. They thought they might have to drill into my skull to release the pressure.

“I’m worried about going out at night now. I’ve suffered headaches since and I forget things.

“It is hard to get across Spring Bank at the best of times. It’s a dangerous road but I never expected this to happen.

“I don’t feel safe now. I’ve only been out in the dark twice since it happened.”

Miller fled the scene to a hotel in West Yorkshire with his girlfriend after the attack, shortly after 8pm on February 26.

They returned to Hull the next day and were caught through number plate recognition when the car they were driving entered the city.

Miller pleaded guilty at Hull Crown Court to grievous bodily harm with intent.

Judge John Dowse told him: “We have seen the photos of what you did to this man. You effectively beat him to a pulp.

“It was unprovoked. You left the car and you savaged him.”

Miller, an electrician, was jailed for three years and three months.

He has previous convictions for assault occasioning actual bodily harm and possessing cocaine.

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