A taxi driver who knocked down a cyclist he thought had given him the finger was jailed for four months yesterday.

A taxi driver who knocked down a cyclist he thought had given him the finger was jailed for four months yesterday.

Alistair Palmer, who laughed as he mounted the pavement to hit cyclist Michael Martin, was also disqualified from driving for 18 months.

The 53-year-old swerved towards Mr Martin twice before finally knocking him to the ground, Glasgow Sheriff Court heard.

He carried out the attack in April after the 39-year-old slapped the back of his black hackney cab and signalled that he was getting too close.

Sentencing Palmer, Sheriff Andrew Mackie told him: "The courts will always treat the use of a motor vehicle in such a way as a very serious offence.

"It may just have been luck that Mr Martin the cyclist was not more seriously injured."

At an earlier hearing, Palmer, of Truro Avenue, Moodiesburn, was convicted of assaulting Mr Martin with his vehicle at Auchinloch Road, Lenzie, near Glasgow, on April 20 this year. He was also found guilty of failing to stop at the scene of an accident and failing to report it to police.

Palmer told the court that he thought Mr Martin had "given me the finger" and chased after him because he had hit his taxi.

He said: "I put the window down to shout at him to stop but he just kept on going. He went to take another swipe at the taxi and I braked and he hit thin air and tumbled off his bike."

Defence lawyer Graham Walker revealed that Palmer had since lost his taxi licence and that the effects of the case coming to court had been "catastrophic" for his client.