A 44-year-old off-road motorbike rider has been sentenced to three years and three months in prison after deliberately striking a woman with his arm while riding through Aberdeen, causing her to lose consciousness and suffer serious injuries.
Brian Noble carried out the assault on 2 May in Ramsay Crescent after the 29-year-old woman challenged him about his manner of riding near children. According to local reporting, the woman had gone to collect her child from school when she confronted Noble about his dangerous riding. The incident, which occurred at approximately 4.30pm, was captured on a camera at a nearby property.
The impact threw the woman to the ground with considerable force. According to available accounts, she sustained a brain bleed and a broken wrist, in addition to losing consciousness from the blow.
At Aberdeen Sheriff Court, Noble admitted assault to severe injury and danger of life. He was also disqualified from driving for 11 years and seven months. The court heard that he had originally faced a charge of attempted murder, along with allegations of threatening or abusive behaviour, driving while disqualified, driving without insurance and possessing controlled drugs.
What the court heard
Sheriff Craig Findlater described the assault as a "shocking" crime. He noted that Noble had used a motorbike to attack a woman he did not know, simply because she had annoyed him by questioning his conduct with the vehicle.
The sheriff emphasised that this was an assault to the danger of life in which the victim lost consciousness, and that only a custodial sentence was appropriate. He told Noble that the sentence would have been five years had he not pleaded guilty to the charge.
Defence solicitor Neil McRobert acknowledged that Noble accepted the incident was not accidental, though he argued that Noble did not intend to cause the severity of injuries that resulted. McRobert noted that while Noble had a "lengthy" criminal record, violence was not a prevalent feature of it. He told the court that
Mr Noble accepts custody will be imposed.
Circumstances of the offence
Noble was already serving a 348-day jail sentence in another case when the court considered this assault, according to court records. Sentencing in this matter had been deferred to allow time for background reports to be prepared.
Following his release from the three-year and three-month sentence, Noble will be subject to supervised release for a period of one year.
Key Facts
- Brian Noble, 44, struck a 29-year-old woman with his arm while riding an off-road motorbike in Aberdeen's Ramsay Crescent on 2 May
- The woman suffered a brain bleed and broken wrist and lost consciousness from the impact
- Noble pleaded guilty to assault to severe injury and danger of life; he was originally charged with attempted murder
- He received a sentence of three years and three months and a driving disqualification of 11 years and seven months
- The sentence would have been five years if Noble had not entered a guilty plea
