Tony Lally: Single mum LOSES IT over road rage cyclist walking away scot-free trends now
The victim of a shocking road rage attack has slammed a judge's decision to dismiss charges against a cyclist who assaulted her because he has post-traumatic stress disorder.
One-time Olympian turned corporate executive Anthony Lally, 68, fronted a sentencing hearing at Sydney's Manly Local Court on Friday, after pleading guilty to assaulting Monique, 45, in her car on Sydney's northern beaches earlier this year.
Viral video showed Mr Lally berating the single mother as 'fat' and 'blind' in an expletive-laden rant and reaching towards her, through her car door, as she pleaded with him to stop.
Magistrate Robyn Denes - who told the court she is also a cyclist - dismissed Lally's charges of common assault and entering a vehicle without consent on Friday after he submitted a medical report saying he suffers from PTSDl
Mr Lally, the court heard, had been hit by a car during a previous incident.
The magistrate's decision left Monique baffled and infuriated - arguing that mental health was not an excuse for abusive behaviour.
Road rage victim Monique (pictured) said the dismissal of Lally's charges were an 'absolute joke'
Irish cyclist Tony Lally, 68, is pictured outside Manly Court on Friday after his charges were dismissed
'This was an absolute joke,' she told Daily Mail Australia.
'I have been in car accidents and I don't open people's car doors and abuse them.
'What about my mental health issues? What about me not being able to go in a lift with men? Struggling when I see cyclists?
'This was handed to them [the court] on a plate - there was footage and he pleaded guilty, but instead he walked off.'
Monique said she felt disappointed by the legal system. The news made her feel like she had 'just been hit again'.
She said the decision to proceed with pressing charges had taken its toll on her and her son.
After this experience she would not bother taking matters to court ever again, she said.
'This was the one chance for the court system to send a message to cyclists that are incognito and are untrackable that if they abuse people there will be repercussions,' she said.
'But this is the precedent the court is sending?
'No matter there are so many abused women in this country.'
Dressed in a blue suit and wearing a face mask, Lally refused to answer questions about the incident as he left court with his lawyer on Friday.
The high-flying executive previously pleaded guilty to common assault after he was filmed hitting a single mother who he accused of cutting him off in traffic
During the hearing, Magistrate Robyn Denes disclosed that she was a cyclist and asked the police prosecutor and Lally's lawyer if they had any issues with her overhearing the case. No objection was tendered.
'As soon as I heard what happened, I asked 'Has he been hit by a car previously?' And low and behold, that is what had happened,' she said.
Ms Denes said she had read the facts of the case and a medical report that stated Lally suffered post-traumatic stress disorder from previously being hit by a car while riding his bike.
'This case is quite specific because the offending conduct relates specifically to what happened to you as a cyclist,' she said.
'No doubt you had not envisioned that happening again.'
