Portsmouth top hat wearing thug admits riding into man in his 70s causing serious injuries

The distinctive Portsmouth figure Gary Saunders, 61, of Osborne Road, Southsea, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm.

It comes after police appealed for witnesses after a ‘man on a bicycle collider with a man in his 70s, knocking him to the ground’.

At the time police said the suspect was ‘verbally abusive’ and cycled off.

The victim, who was in Elm Grove, suffered fractures to his hand, wrist and arm.

It happened at around 3.20pm on March 14 this year.

At the time a police spokeswoman said: ‘The cyclist has been described as a man of large build wearing a top hat.’

Now Saunders has pleaded guilty and was bailed by Portsmouth magistrates ahead of his sentencing next week.

He is due at Portsmouth Crown Court on November 19.

Saunders pleaded guilty at the first hearing.

He was given a suspended 41-week jail sentence earlier this year after being found guilty of a series of assaults – including spitting at a security worker in Fratton.

His latest guilty plea is for an offence that happened after those assaults.

Earlier this year he was also made subject to a five-year Asbo-style criminal behaviour order. Among other measures, it bans him from cycling on a footpath.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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