A road rage thug from Montrose who left a 64-year-old man needing to have his retina re-attached has been jailed.
Robert Cobb was locked up after attacking his victim twice during the same incident.
Despite admitting to police he punched the man in the face, Cobb claimed the serious injuries were caused by his victim drunkenly falling.
Cobb was slammed by a sheriff for having “no empathy” and was locked up for more than a year.
Four punches
At previous hearing, Forfar Sheriff Court heard Cobb had driven past the 64-year-old at 9pm on July 15 2023 near the river in Montrose, on the corner of Wharf Street and Shore Wynd.
He heard Cobb’s Vauxhall Astra’s brakes screech as he passed and as the motorist passed, the stranger said: “Oh here we go, another d**khead”.
Cobb stopped the vehicle, got out and told him: “I heard what you f***ing said, me and my wife heard it.”
He punched him on the head twice and as he was walking back to his car, turned and asked: “Are you laughing?”
He returned and punched him twice more to the head, then drove off.
Serious injuries
Cobb’s victim suffered a bleeding nose and a hairline fracture to his cheekbone, a blood clot at the back of his left eye and a detached retina.
After the assault, he reported seeing “floaters” in his left eye as well as a cataract, both as a result of blunt force trauma.
A month after the assault, the man had his retina re-attached and reports he has recovered.
Cobb was identified as the attacker when a relative and the victim’s sister discussed the incident five days later.
Police interviewed Cobb in mid-August 2023 and he freely told officers: “I did lift a hand.
“To tell you the truth, I think he’s fallen after having a drink to cause himself these injuries.
“I only hit him twice to the nose.”
‘Not much nuance’
Before a jury trial scheduled in April, Cobb pled guilty to severely injuring and impairing his victim.
The court heard he has previous assault convictions dating back to 2010.
Sentencing had been deferred for reports on the HGV driver, of Montrose.
Solicitor Billy Rennie said: “This is effectively road rage against a pedestrian who, on the face of it, was making comments to him about the manner of his driving.
“He’s 57, he lives alone. He is back leading what seems to be a fairly prosocial life.
“This seems to be a fairly isolated incident that hasn’t thankfully had significant long-term consequences for the complainer.
“He pretty much sees everything black and white, there’s not much nuance to his thinking.”
‘No empathy’
Cobb had been on bail since first appearing in court on September 12 in 2023.
Sheriff Mark Thorley jailed him for 15 months.
He said: “This was an entirely unprovoked assault on a member of the public.
“Having assaulted the complainer, you went back and assaulted him again a second time.
“This caused significant consequences for the complainer.
“What makes it worse is what you’ve said in the report – effectively it was his fault.
“It’s a serious assault. There’s no empathy here.
“There is absolutely no alternative but a custodial sentence here.”
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