Navigating Chaos: My Unforgettable Near Death Experience on M4 and Its Aftermath

Road rage incidents can escalate quickly, turning a simple drive into a nightmarish ordeal. On May 1st, 2024, I faced one such unforgettable experience that not only shook me emotionally but also led to a physical assault weeks later on July 16th. This post shares my story, the lessons I learned, and practical advice for anyone who might find themselves in similar situations.

Background Story

With such stories, there is always some background information. I will give a bit of context and how this led to the incident on the 1st of May. I have lived and traveled in the UK as a Kenyan national for the past 15 years. I decided to relocate to Bristol a few years ago because I had very close friends there, and it is also a vibrant city in the southwest of England, known for its rich maritime history, cultural diversity, and innovative spirit. I met a Kenyan lady who appears to say to others that she is a Tanzanian National, and we became friends, which developed into a relationship. She introduced me to her family and friends. Towards the end of the year, she invited me to her Kenyan friend's end-of-year social event near Banana Bridge, Langton Street. This was the first time we disagreed on something. She said to stay at her friend’s place, but I didn’t want to. She physically assaulted me by scratching my face and biting my left arm. I went to my GP, who gave me referrals, and I told my housemates about it. After this incident, she became very controlling. She told me that in this country, men are not listened to. If something like this happens, she will defend herself using the law against me and that women's charities will support her. She told me not to take it further as I wouldn’t be listened to anyway. That was the first time I noticed her aggressive behavior. My mates and GP advised me to keep away.

It was during this social event that she introduced me to her male Kenyan "friend." We had a lot of disagreements, but her friend mediated between us to reconcile our relationship between December and April. She used him to keep me close to her. I got fed up and called off the relationship. She came to my house in Bedminster and forced herself in. She had tried to call me before, and I wasn’t picking up. I insisted I was done, so she left,she locked the door, and hid my house keys. I called her and her sister as I was locked in the house for over two hours. Her sister picked up, and I asked her where she had hidden the keys. I had to go out of the house, causing me to be locked out. I had to call my housemate to explain the situation. My housemates drove back home and had to change the locks. She was banned from the address, and a door camera was installed for safety and security reasons. I called the police, and they advised me to keep away as they had gone to have a word with her. They came and had an interview with me the following day. On this day, she rang me several times, but I did not answer. End of unended story,its end of April.

The Night That Changed Everything

1st May 2024

On this date, I was at Easton Leisure Centre in Bristol on my usual workout routine. My ex called me via WhatsApp video and added her male "friend" to the call. I answered as I wanted my belongings back. We had a chat and agreed that I would have a chill time with this mutual friend at my place in Totterdown; this was an earlier agreement between him and me. She drove to the leisure centre with him and delivered some of my valuables. It was time for us two, the men, to head to mine, and she offered to drop us at my address, but I told her that she was banned from coming to mine.

We played computer games as we had a general chat about life in the UK based on his experience as a Kenyan law student. I realized that he was communicating with her on his phone and wasn’t paying attention to the game; he drank a lot anyway. So, I asked him to leave. Before he left, he went to the door and grabbed another bottle of whisky, saying it was offered by my ex,I wonder why she was offering a drink. I didn't ask for it,but from my experiencewith these two,my x used alcohol to manipulate and control him. I declined further indulgence and asked him to leave with the bottle of whisky from her.

He came back into my house and tried to convince me to come with them to drop him off at his address, a 15-minute drive away in Filton. He convinced me to come in the car with him because he was pushing to reconcile my relationship with her. I had my slippers and a fairly expensive shirt on, a smart watch, and blue denim pants with house keys on me. My phone was left behind on charge. The journey was just a 10-minute drive, which I know from previous experience, so I agreed and mentioned that my phone was left behind.

We got into a Corsa, a 15-year-old 3-door car, with me sitting in the front passenger seat and the guy sitting behind, sipping the whisky straight from the bottle. Just so you know, he had dreadlocks, a sort of unkempt hairstyle. It was the usual conversation going on about things we had agreed on and how I ended the relationship. After 10-15 minutes had passed, I realized we were on the motorway, so I panicked.

I asked if he had moved from Filton since I knew we didn't need the M4 to reach his address. Despite my questions, neither he nor she, who was driving fast on the M4 from Bristol towards Wiltshire, responded. I didn't have my phone because it was charging at home, and my housemates' dog was also there while they were on holiday. On the motorway, I panicked.

I asked him to call the police. I felt like I was in danger as we were headed in a weird direction. He didn’t give me his phone, my ex told me to shut up and not involve the police(Reason for this revealed during trial) He eventually passed me his phone, and I tried to call 999. "Mungu Wangu" OMG she grabbed the phone, and the car swerved left to right in the middle of the high-speed motorway's second lane. This not only put our lives in danger,but also for other motorists.

It was at this time that I sensed I was in deep sh*t. This man grabbed my neck from behind in a headlock position so tight that I couldn’t breathe whilst punching my face. I was being deprived of air before they threw me out of the car while she was shouting in Swahili, "mtupe nje" (push him out of the car). It was a very dangerous situation as the car was swerving. I was trying to plead with them, and I was very afraid. He was telling her where to drive. I thought I was being kidnapped. I had to reasonably defend myself. I was reaching over the back of my seat to try and push him off me.

During that time, she repeatedly braked heavily, likely causing his facial injuries from hitting my seat. This Kenyan girl pulled my hands off him, preventing self-defense. She then stopped on a busy highway after about 6-9min of fighting for my life, they both ganged up and attacked me. She scratched, bit, tore my clothes, and took my belt off. My trousers were torn, my watch destroyed and lost, along with my house keys, slippers, and shirt.

At that time, I had been diagnosed with Grade 1-2 PCL left knee, with a slightly healed MCL injury with Heterotopic Ossification. I had sustained this last December before this date as an active athlete (https://strava.app.link/jKL0ONlOA0b) I had a limited range of movement of 0°-130° compared to the other knee, which had full flexion. My ex knew this was my weak point, so she attacked it intentionally, but as a regular active person, giving up is never an option in such a situation. As soon as I got him off me, they managed to push me out of the car.

She was speaking in Swahili, saying, "Let’s throw him in the bush," and they attempted to leave me stranded on the motorway. She tried to drive off while I was outside the car, injured, with marks and blood on me, waving for help in the windy, rainy weather. We were both at risk of being hit by other cars. I saw my attacker with his head under the car as she prepared to drive off, possibly running over him, so I grabbed her shirt from behind to stop her, but she drove off and left us beside M4.

Luckily there was somebody who happened to be an off duty paramedic who decided to pull safely and came to help after he had some view of what happened. "It was dark, dangerous and the view wasn`t very clear"; he said nearly over 18 months after the incident during 3 days Trial hearing at Bristol Crown Court this year January.

I pulled my attacker out from under the car before she drove off, he then again assaulted me. I was scared he would get on top of me,he weighed 33 lbs more than me, so I held his hands and kept him on the ground to prevent extreme injury and defeat.

During that time,the off duty samaritan came closer and took a photo of me on top of him holding his hands against the ground. That was only because I was trying to stop any further attack.He pushed me off him onto the ground and I felt a very excruciating pain in my damaged knee. After that, I found myself in the ambulance and then at Great Western Hospital in Swindon. I stayed long hours in the ambulance. My housemates panicked as they didn’t know where I was. I stayed in that hospital overnight until the next day until around 16:00 hours when I was discharged. My housemates reported me missing to the police after repeatedly ringing me with no response. They reached out to my two attackers via WhatsApp, and there was an exchange of messages between them.

A police officer from Wiltshire came to my aid at the hospital.I was also given a jumper at the hospital. He called my ex twice on his phone and put me through. He wanted her to help with putting me in contact with somebody to pick me up from Swindon. She shouted at me with insults and threatened to send me to prison for 5 years. The police took my statement and gave me a pair of shoes at the police station. He took me to Swindon train station so I can get home to Bristol Temple Meads.

When I arrived back home, my housemates spoke to me on the smart door camera remotely. I had to go to the nearest pub and ask for a pint of water as I waited for them to arrive. They took pictures of my injuries after driving for hours from a disrupted holiday to come and let me in.

I was traumatized, had extreme injuries on the same side of the leg with a knee problem. I could not walk properly; I stayed in the house for 3 days nursing my injuries. I couldn't sleep, I spent hours and hours searching for a solicitor to help with legal advice, and I also rang my registered surgery to secure an appointment for treatment. I had bite marks on neck caused by this man around neck and arms by the lady. As a person of good character, I thought given the fact that we came from the same country,spoke same language and lived in a foreign country,they would perhaps pursue restorative justice route. They were determined to turn the tables and send me to prison isntead, claim lots of money from me for their selfish gains,to pay their university debts & visa fees they were struggling with at that time. They were jealous of my achievement to financial freedom,my ex sent me emails and messages asking for financial compensation the next day.

The Physical Assault Weeks Later

On July 16th, 2024 near Bedmister Train Station in Bristol, the situation took a darker turn. My Kenyan x who lives in Brislington, from the road rage incident bumped into me, confronted me in person and ran off. I was with a friend who I had gone to meet around the station.

I told her I had a partner who I was pursuing a long term relationship and connection with, I told her to put her life in order and sort her debts out, because I wasnt going to pay monies she was demanding from me . She said she was going to do everything to get me behind the bars,she was bitter and jealous,she never accepted the separation,never moved on. The encounter escalated into a physical assault, leaving me shaken. This experience was a harsh reminder of how unresolved conflicts can lead to dangerous consequences. Below is the statement I narrated to the police and instructed my solicitor about the event.

On 16th at Bedminster Station area about 0.8 miles from my house and about 3 miles from her flat in Brislington. Between 1730-1800,I accidentally met her and after we both stopped ,she pulled out your phone and started recording. I wasn’t aware of her action till I realised her phone camera was facing towards me.

I kept my distance because she was a violent person. She began shouting at me after I mentioned I had a partner and not a project (Currently my married wife with our little son),I had moved on with my life. She said she had proved it on Saturday July night 13th at Kingswood in the event that I attended with my current wife. I didnt know she was the one stalking me.

Luckily my friend who I was with drove towards the scene and saw everything that happened.My friend recognised her and so he beeped, She verbally insulted me and splashed the drink she had with her onto my face. When I questioned why she did it,she kept verbally insulting me and ran off. I quickly took my phone and recorded photos of the event. The images were used in the court as a proof,all she said was nothing but lies to the police. My friend who was unable to attend the court, narrated what he saw to my solicitor.The police did not do anything regarding my statement,after they were told lies, they came home to arrest me.

The Police Arrest,Interview & Court Proceedings

The police drove me to Kenysham police station and I spent 17 hours in the cell, no one including my current wife knew where I was. I managed to get hold of my close friends and her letting them know about my situation. On the 18th hour, my solicitor arrived and we had a chat. Almost a 30 minutes interview took place with nearly 50 questions for me to asnwer. I answered no comment to all the questions.

I was shown various photos during the interview, they included pseudo facebook messenger accounts that were created by my x and his male "friend". I was never using fb at the time, I had blocked these people everywhere and deleted everything about them a part from the evidence on the previous incidents. They messaged themselves threats, false and fake exchanges claiming that it was done by me asking for money and that I was impersonating the police. It made me believe that these people had ulterior motives, and that they used AI generated images big time as their only evidence to press charges against me.

I was released on bail, my phone was taken for over 3 months while Avon and Somerset police was investigating these claims. On 15th Oct 24 the police asked me to report, and pick up my phone, nothing related to the reason for arrest was found. I had 4 charges related to the motorway incident and 1 related to the 16th July. The last charge was added when I attended the first hearing at Bristol Magistrate Court.

This was a very hard time because we were very certain and in all honesty, I never committed any of these crimes.I ended up going to the court confindetly about 2-3 times for hearing and updates on what was going on. I ended up paying for my representation at the beginning because I did not qualify for legal aid.

Finally a Trial date was arranged for 5th-7th of January 2026, this was the day in over 18 months that I saw these two Kenyans in the corridors of Bristol Crown Court. On the 5th, a bench of 12 Juries was brought into the court. These were randonmly selected strangers who I had never seen in my life and will probably never see them at all.

The Witness Statements and Final Verdict

This was the first time in many months that I saw these two complainants. The lady was the first to deliver her account as a witness. After she took an oath on the Bible to say nothing but the truth, she immediately started with blatant lies. If you are a pathological liar, then it is believed that out of ten things you say, nine and a half of them are most likely to be lies. She started by saying that on that night the plan was to drive to McDonald's to buy "food"; the rest was lies on top of lies. Anyway, to cut the long story short, the complainant became emotional when giving her evidence. Based on how I know her, she was using this to influence judgment. This is not a reliable indicator of whether she told the truth or not. The 12-member jury had the task of evaluating the evidence she presented dispassionately.

The second complainant turned up afterward, and he also took an oath by swearing on the Bible to say nothing but the truth. He started by narrating events from my account. He said the plan was clear: to drop him off at his place and that he went out to bring an uninvited bottle of whisky. He admitted in court that he had drunk nearly half a bottle of whisky on his own in total. The jury had to consider whether and to what extent he had the ability to perceive, remember, or describe the events based on the alcohol he had consumed. In the beginning, during my interview with the police, it was said that he had a broken nose believed to have been caused by me. During his narration, he mentioned that he had a history involving manipulation of nasal fractures. This had to be considered as an existing injury and that I had nothing to do with it, with my entitlement to use reasonable force in the circumstance as honestly believed to be in the defense of myself.

The Samaritan turned up on the second day, and he said his accounts. My barrister, as usual, did her examination and questioning with him. The jury had to bear in mind that memories do fade over time and can become distorted. People do forget details or even become confused, especially picturing in mind how things happened in the middle of a pitch-dark motorway, turning up last minute after lots that he never witnessed happened. The jury had to be careful not to use hindsight to judge the actions of those involved; they had to consider the situation as it appeared to them at the time.

There was alot of inconsistencies, the jury had to decide which witnesses said truth,which were accurate in their recollections. It didnt feel like they had any stress from the incident, they told deliberate lies despite passage of time. These two Kenyans had time to meet and rehearse what they planned to say, the male "friend" appeared to have been coached by his partner in crime to say what he said.Other witnesess had to give their accounts including the presence of police in charge of the case.

I was the final person to give my statement, it was complete honesty of accounts that happened.I was a defendant of good character, what that meant is that I had no previous convictions or cautions. A person of good character may be more likely to tell the truth than people who are not. A person of of good character also may be less likely to commit a crime. The jury had to decide whether they believed my evidence. The judge gave his legal direction to the jury and the prosecutor had to give his final closing statement, I did not have to prove my innocence, the burden of proof was with the prosecutor. My barrister had to give her final closing statement which took nearly half an hour.

During all this time, I came to find out based on my barristers intellect, that the Kenyan lady, had been driving on a provisional licence without supervision. She did not also have a sign of L plate. When she drove off,she had encounters with other motorists who made her stop, they asked to call the police and she didnt want them to, reason being she had broken some laws and was scared of police involvement. The car she was driving was confiscated by the police and the rest is a history of lies and guilt she bears. His mate was a terrible looser who didnt know what he was talking about as a drunkard.

I left the court room before the jury did what they had in order to make the final verdict.The offences I was charged with was on five counts. This took about 60-120 minutes before I was called back in court for the final verdict to be read for my sentencing.I had work to retun to a few days after whilst my wife and under one year one couldnt wait to hear the outcome ahead of our wedding in the same month.

Closing Statement by the Jury Representative

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, As we conclude this trial, it is my duty to summarize the evidence and arguments presented before you. After careful consideration, we find ourselves at a pivotal moment where we must determine the fate of the defendant, who stands accused of five serious charges.Throughout this trial, we have examined a wide array of evidence. It is crucial to remember that the burden of proof lies with the prosecution. They must establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and we must consider whether they have met this burden for each charge. 1. Charge One: The prosecution failed to provide credible evidence linking the defendant to the alleged crime. Witness testimonies were inconsistent, and key evidence was either missing or unsubstantiated. 2. Charge Two: The defense presented a compelling alibi, supported by reliable witnesses who confirmed the defendant's whereabouts at the time of the alleged incident. 3. Charge Three: The lack of physical evidence undermines the prosecution's claims. The prosecution could not definitively prove that the defendant was involved in any wrongdoing. 4. Charge Four: The character witnesses presented by the defense highlighted the defendant's integrity and lack of motive, casting significant doubt on the prosecution's narrative. 5. Charge Five: The inconsistencies in the prosecution's case further illustrate the reasonable doubt that exists regarding the defendant's guilt.

Conclusion

NOT GUILTY OF THESE 5 CHARGES

Lessons I Learned & Practical Advice - to be shared soon!