A London Moped Thief, and father of two Davontay Higgins, 21, was jailed for 18 months for two attacks on cyclists in London. In an act of stunning stupidity, he even posted one of these on his own social media to brag about his crime. Another was caught on the cyclists own Helmet Cam, this showed Higgins approaching from behind with his face covered with a balaclava to hide his identity.
He kicked the 57 year old cyclist so violently, the victim collided with a parked car. Luckily the first victims injuries healed in a number of months, with some likely to continue. The second victim, in similar circumstances was kicked into another parked vehicle, and sustained injuries to the head, shoulder and back. We do not need reminding that we have reported on many fatalities in very similar circumstances, and Mr Higgins need to count himself very fortunate not to be spending far longer in prison – as it was only a matter of time, when the inevitable may have happened with the habitual use of kicking cyclists into parked cars.
One cyclist had reportedly remonstrated with Higgins for riding on the wrong side of the road. Higgins followed the cyclist, and instigated the attack whilst recording the event on his mobile phone to share later. The chase lasted some 15 minutes, and was a prolonged attack with the victim apologising to placate Higgins.
Mr Higgins had a previous conviction for Robbery in 2020. Judge Georgia Kent found Higgins guilty of two counts of causing Actual Bodily Harm, and Two Counts Dangerous Driving for both incidences. He was sentenced to 9 months for each of the two attacks, to run one after the other – totaling 18 months. Higgins was seen crying when the realisation of his offending would lead to a custodial sentence. Higgins apologised to his victims.
Tim Banks, in defense stated that Higgins had a difficult upbringing, and suffered with Mental Health and ADHD, citing this as an excuse for his behaviour as he had stopped taking his medication. His mother was in a wheelchair and he had no father figure. Though a heavy cross to bare, many have had similarly difficult upbringings, and some, arguably harder. ADHD will see you make some poor decisions, it may well make you crave a rush from risk – but it doesn’t make you viciously attack people!
It is no doubt that Mr Higgins had dealt with a lot, and was immature in nature. He leaves a two year old child behind. When he sits in his cell, we hope he thinks back at his own lack of father figure – and starts to think about what sort of example he is setting for his own child. You cannot choose your parents, but you can be the parent your child would choose.
What future he wants for that child – if he even wants to be around that child, as one day his partner may well just have enough and leave for someone more responsible. This is his chance to change that cycle, he just needs to grow up, man up, and get on with it as many of us have. We have seen many rehabilitated on courses for these offenders, there are plenty of options out there and it may well be that he attends these. If he uses his time away to retrain and do something useful with his life, he could be a father his child would be proud of – or will that child be sat in the same cell blaming his own father’s lack of willpower and commitment for his position? Time will tell.
UKBTA Team
