A taxi driver who dangerously collided with a cyclist and then attempted to conceal evidence by throwing his dashcam into a bush has been sentenced to community service and disqualified from driving for two and a half years.

John Howard Robert, 65, initially denied charges of dangerous driving and perverting the course of public justice but later pleaded guilty.

The incident occurred last November at 6:35pm in Les Sablons, St Peter’s. Prosecutor Phoebe Cobb told the court that Robert's taxi was equipped with a dashcam recording both external and internal views, including audio. Following the collision, officers arriving at the scene noticed a cable hanging from the rearview mirror. A police dog later located the dashcam and its mounting bracket in a nearby bush.

Footage recovered from the device showed Robert using his mobile phone while driving, visible through the reflection in his glasses. He was also seen turning off the interior light with his free hand, indicating he wasn't holding the steering wheel. Robert spent significant time looking at his phone, only briefly glancing at the road, and at one point, clipped a kerb.

The cyclist, Orkney Island Games competitor and former Velo Club president Alex Margison, sustained soft tissue damage to a shoulder and an injured finger. Robert apologised to Margison at the scene and called an ambulance.

In a subsequent interview, Robert claimed he was under the influence of carbon monoxide poisoning due to a leaking exhaust, a claim later disproven by professional inspection of the vehicle.

He largely gave "no comment" responses but stated the cyclist was riding in the middle of the road and that he didn't think he needed to tell officers about the dashcam.

Defending, Advocate Clare Tee conceded that "there was nothing she could say that would makes the offences seem any less serious."

She described Robert's actions as a "lack of judgment" and said he "panicked when disposing of the dashcam." She also stated that Robert had not driven since the incident and was in the process of selling his taxi plate, while maintaining he had been unwell.

Judge Gary Perry "totally rejected" Robert's carbon monoxide poisoning claim, calling it "quite frankly ridiculous."

He criticised Robert for putting other road users at risk and then disposing of the dashcam "to protect his own skin, when the cyclist must have been lying in the road." Judge Perry stated that only Robert's long, clean driving record prevented him from being imprisoned.

Robert was ordered to perform 140 hours of community service as an alternative to five months in prison for attempting to pervert the course of justice. He also received 80 hours of concurrent community service as an alternative to two months in prison for dangerous driving, along with a two-and-a-half-year licence suspension.

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