The court heard Abbott was identified as the registered keeper of the vehicle involved in the incident and was interviewed by police in October.
He told the court: “The origin of this incident was the behaviour of the witness. Despite what she has said on oath in this court, she didn’t just sound her horn once, she sounded it several times and flashed her lights, which I deem road rage.
“I believed there was enough space so I pulled out. I looked at her in my rear view mirror, she was flashing her lights and sounding her horn and making a rude gesture at me.
“Rightly or wrongly I am the type of person if someone behaves like that to me I will want to say something, I will call them out on it. I will do it with anyone, whatever gender, size or age they are.
“I do not like people filming other people without their permission, I think it’s a violation of their privacy.
‘It was a goading laugh’
“The reason why the incident didn’t just stop there is that I didn’t see any distress whatsoever. What I saw was her laughing at me and filming me after I asked her to stop. It was not a nervous laugh, it was a goading laugh.
“Anger is not a rational function. I regret my behaviour but there’s a number of statements I contest.”
Shami Duggal, prosecuting, said: “In the footage you were being extremely verbally abusive, threatening and intimidating.
“That wasn’t reasonable behaviour was it?”
Abbott replied: “No, I would agree, but it wasn’t without cause. It’s not against the law to be angry.”
Judge Orla Austin said she found Mrs Isaacs an “entirely credible witness” and found Abbott guilty.
She said: “It is very clear to me from the footage that he was banging on her car. The level of anger was extremely high.
“I don’t believe you, I find you did all those things and were entirely threatening. The anger was out of all proportion to the incident.
“Your intention was to cause her harassment, alarm and distress. She was on her own, you repeatedly targeted her, it was sustained abuse and had a significant effect on her.”
She warned Abbott, of Bournemouth, that he faces imprisonment as the incident was the “most serious” of this type of offence and he had put the victim through a trial despite “overwhelming evidence”.
Sentencing was adjourned until later this month for probation to assess Abbott.
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
