“I think he wanted to scare him, to intimidate him by clipping him with the car.”

22-year-old Robertson, who had been a champion showjumper, drove away from the scene, leaving Mr Smith lying in the road. Robertson then returned to Chiddingfold under the cover of darkness, Mr Sellers added, collected the witness appeal boards put out by the police, doused them in petrol and burnt them.

An air ambulance flew the victim to the Royal London Hospital, where he spent 20 days in intensive care before being transferred to Farnham Hospital for rehabilitation. He suffered a lacerated liver, internal bleeding, a broken pelvis, a fractured hand, broken ribs, severe trauma and deep wounds to his leg and head.

He needed multiple skin grafts, numerous blood transfusions and was treated for jaundice and given kidney dialysis. On January 9 this year he was finally allowed home, after spending more than three months in hospital. Mr Smith, a 66-year-old retired IT worker who had been cycling since the age of 14, was run over less than a mile from his home. He is still having physiotherapy for his injuries.

“Robertson said there was this man, this cyclist, in the middle of the road. He said the cyclist was getting in his way. I think he wanted to scare him, to intimidate him by clipping him with the car. Then he got too close and hit the cyclist instead and pulled him underneath the car. It was like road rage or whatever it’s called, that had all gone horribly wrong.”

If found guilty, you can be quite certain that the defendant will be permitted to resume his driving career before very many years have elapsed.