Driver guilty of punching MP in rage punch

A novelist was convicted yesterday of punching a veteran Tory MP in a road-rage attack in Westminster.

Jason Taylor, 32, was found guilty of striking Anthony Steen, 60, in the face after the politician had allegedly cut across him in heavy traffic.

Horseferry Road magistrates' court, central London, was told the two men confronted each other late at night after Mr Steen had swerved to avoid a skip. The MP for Totnes described how Taylor had overtaken him and then blocked his path before emerging from his car to ask the politician if he wanted a fight.

Taylor, of Lambeth, south London, was found guilty of a single charge of common assault and warned that he faces jail. The writer, whose first novel has recently been accepted by a publisher, will be sentenced on 25 May.