A couple who were viciously attacked by a known road rage attacker slammed the courts yesterday after he was given a suspended sentence and fine.

James and Noreen Douglas said they felt justice had not been served after Eric Kenneth Dunkley was handed down the six-month sentence, suspended for two years, and $500 fine in Magistrates' Court.

Mr. Douglas was attacked by Dunkley after their vehicles collided in the early morning of November 5 two years ago.

The 48-year-old grandfather, who is only five-foot-four-inches tall, said he got out of his car to talk to Dunkley while his wife sat inside, but found himself being repeatedly hit with a helmet - and even lifted off the ground by the attacker, who was a foot taller.

He said he believed Dunkley, who was sentenced to nine months in prison last month for a similar attack on another man, had been let off lightly this time.

"I was hit quite a few times with a helmet, kicked and punched. It was terrible," said Mr. Douglas in an interview with The Royal Gazette.

"He gripped me by the neck, had me dangling in the air and said he was going to break my neck. I was stunned - I was seeing stars.

"It has taken two years to come to court and then this happens. I think he should have been given a prison term. I was simply a victim of circumstance - in the wrong place at the wrong time. I don't go looking for trouble. We are law abiding citizens.

"He has done this twice to people now. He could easily do it again. It seems that unless you die, nothing is done."

Dunkley, 29, of Sugar Apple Lane, Pembroke, pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm against Mr. Douglas yesterday.

The court heard how Mr. Douglas suffered some bruising to his face and head, and a small nick on his chin, in the attack, but no lasting injuries.

Dunkley is already serving nine-months for attacking Colm Mooney in February this year, breaking his nose, and assaulting security guard Gladwin Edness, in another road rage incident.

However, he has appealed the length of that sentence and is awaiting the hearing and outcome.

Magistrate William Francis dealt with both cases.

Mr. Douglas, of Roberts Avenue, Devonshire, said he and his wife Noreen had been to a benefit dance in St. David's on the night in question when they drove friends home to Pembroke.

He said he and his wife were driving onto Victoria Street from Court Street, in search of something to eat, when his car collided with Dunkley's bike.

When he got out to talk to Dunkley, his wife waited inside the car, where she soon became hysterical as the punches were thrown.

But she said her concern for her husband soon also turned into fear for own safety when one of Dunkley's friends, Nikia Burchall, then reached inside the car, grabbed her by the hair and pulled her out, before kicking her in the face.

Burchall has already received a six-week prison sentence, which was not suspended, for his part in the attack.

Yesterday, Mrs. Douglas, 45, said she was bitterly disappointed with both sentences.

"We wanted both of them to receive time. This is just a slap on the wrist," she said.

"It would seem that human lives are not worth anything anymore. They both would have received a harsher sentence if they had stolen something from someone.

"I'm disgusted. I feel this sentence against Dunkley tells us that we are not worth anything and we are not important. We want to appeal the sentence."

But Mrs. Douglas also criticised those people who stood around and watched the incident unfold, without bothering to offer any help.

She said: "I was terrified that night. I did not know what was going to happen. Only one person came to my aid, and no one helped my husband. Yet, when the Police arrived as everything was happening, I was able to see that there was a crowd of people watching.

"What has happened to humanity?"

Yesterday, prosecutor Graveney Bannister read Dunkley's five previous convictions to the court, which included acts of violence, before sentencing.

Defending Dunkley was lawyer Richard Hector QC.

Dunkley is already serving nine-months for attacking Colm Mooney in February this year, breaking his nose, and assaulting security guard Gladwin Edness, in another road rage incident.

However, he has appealed the length of that sentence and is awaiting the hearing and outcome.

Magistrate William Francis dealt with both cases.

Mr. Douglas, of Roberts Avenue, Devonshire, said he and his wife Noreen had been to a benefit dance in St. David's on the night in question when they drove friends home to Pembroke.

He said he and his wife were driving onto Victoria Street from Court Street, in search of something to eat, when his car collided with Dunkley's bike.

When he got out to talk to Dunkley, his wife waited inside the car, where she soon became hysterical as the punches were thrown.

But she said her concern for her husband soon also turned into fear for own safety when one of Dunkley's friends, Nikia Burchall, then reached inside the car, grabbed her by the hair and pulled her out, before kicking her in the face.

Burchall has already received a six-week prison sentence, which was not suspended, for his part in the attack.

Yesterday, Mrs. Douglas, 45, said she was bitterly disappointed with both sentences.

"We wanted both of them to receive time. This is just a slap on the wrist," she said.

"It would seem that human lives are not worth anything anymore. They both would have received a harsher sentence if they had stolen something from someone.

"I'm disgusted. I feel this sentence against Dunkley tells us that we are not worth anything and we are not important. We want to appeal the sentence."

But Mrs. Douglas also criticised those people who stood around and watched the incident unfold, without bothering to offer any help.

She said: "I was terrified that night. I did not know what was going to happen. Only one person came to my aid, and no one helped my husband. Yet, when the Police arrived as everything was happening, I was able to see that there was a crowd of people watching.

"What has happened to humanity?"

Yesterday, prosecutor Graveney Bannister read Dunkley's five previous convictions to the court, which included acts of violence, before sentencing.

Defending Dunkley was lawyer Richard Hector QC.