A CYCLIST who said he lashed out in terror when a car driver sounded his horn on a narrow country road in the New Forest has been convicted of causing criminal damage.

Factory worker James Sowerby, 46, from Bransgore, denied the charge.

He argued his actions in kicking the car were instinctive and defensive, and not a deliberate or reckless criminal act.

But after a two-and-a-half-hour trial at New Forest Magistrates' Court in Lyndhurst yesterday Sowerby was found guilty of causing damage estimated at between £350 and £500 to the door of the Renault Clio.

Chairman Paul Keeping said: "We believe you were reckless and we find there was no lawful excuse."

But Mr Keeping accepted Sowerby had acted impulsively after a great deal of provocation and sentenced him to pay £100 compensation and £50 towards prosecution costs.

The court heard how one evening in July last year Sowerby was walking with his bicycle along the B3078 at Tiptoe when Elizabeth Hughes and her friend Kevin Rostagina drove past on their way to the Wootton and Bashley Club near New Milton, where Sowerby worked as a part- time barman.

As the car, driven by Mr Rostagina, passed Sowerby the driver sounded the horn, causing him to drop his bike into the road and kick out at the vehicle, leaving a dent in the nearside front door.

Miss Hughes, 36, who told the court she suffered from mental illness, said Sowerby had kicked the door twice but under cross-examination by defending solicitor David Adams repeatedly replied "I can't remember"when questioned over details of the incident.

Mr Rostagina also told the court he had no memory of the incident, having suffered a slight stroke the following month.

In his defence, Sowerby said the same car, driven by either Miss Hughes or Mr Rostagina, had been harassing him for six months by driving up close and sounding the horn.

He denied that he was not terrified but angry and deliberately kicked the car.