Victim of road rage 'killed by a blow'

The victim of a suspected road rage attack was killed by a single blow to the back of his head, police said yesterday.

Peter Swailes, 39, died after a confrontation with another motorist on an unlit country lane between Nostell and Fitzwilliam in West Yorkshire, early on Friday.

He was punched in the face as his attacker smashed the passenger window of the car in which he was sitting. As he got out he was struck over the head with a foot-long weapon with a bulbous end. He died two days later in hospital despite emergency brain surgery.

The attack was witnessed by his brother-in-law, David Reid, who was driving the Triumph Acclaim, and his sister, Linda, who was in the back seat.

Detectives leading the hunt for the killer yesterday released a photofit of the suspect. He was white, in his twenties, 6ft tall, with dark crewcut hair, and wore a distinctive jogging top with strings round the neck.

Detective Chief Inspector Peter Cromack of Pontefract CID said: "We can find no other motive for this attack than road rage. It was a sickening and violent assault. It never justifies anybody being killed or assaulted. It is sad when people can't drive on the road in this day and age without resorting to violence."

He said Mr Swailes's death could have been the result of a "bizarre misunderstanding".