Irish Olympian Tony Lally pleads guilty to common assault charges after shocking road rage incident

The high-flying executive was accused of hitting the female driver after he said she had cut him off in traffic on Pittwater Road, in Sydney's Northern Beaches on July 12.

He had told police she “hit herself” before later admitting to the assault.

He pleaded guilty to two charges of common assault and entering a vehicle in Manly Local Court on Wednesday, while a third charge, stalk/ intimidate with intention to cause fear was dropped.

His victim, named as Monique, was seen in footage pleading with the superannuation executive not to hit her after he reached towards her through the door of her Honda HRV as it sat in a Brookvale carpark.

According to police documents, Monique was travelling north on Pittwater Rd about 11am when Mr Lally passed on her left side on his bike.

Monique then indicated she was turning left into a driveway, but as she pulled in, Mr Lally began yelling at her before his front tire bumped the rear quarter side of her car.

After she pulled into the driveway, Mr Lally “cycled towards the victim in an aggressive manner”, her driver's door opened, then he leaned in and screamed at her, prompting Monique to begin recording the interaction out of fear.

“Are you f***ing blind, are ya!” Mr Lally screamed, before attempting to grab Monique's phone out of her hand.

He then called out “You fat c***!” before striking Monique's chest while trying to take her phone.

“Don’t hit me, don’t hit me, don’t hit me. You can’t hit me!” Monique is heard saying in response. “I am calling the police.”

Monique went to Dee Why Police Station and reported the assault shortly after the incident.

Police turned up at Mr Lally's Cremorne home 20 days after the attack and slapped him with a string of charges after he had been identified by Daily Mail Australia.

Mr Lally told officers that Monique had cut him off and he yelled out a warning.

After colliding with her car, Mr Lally said he then followed her to a nearby carpark, where he admitted there was a verbal confrontation.

However, he insisted he did not lay a finger on her, saying: “I didn't touch her at all. I definitely didn't touch her.”

Mr Lally claimed the victim “hit herself” as she pulled her hands away from him quickly towards her chest area.

He argued that he did not want her filming and was just “trying to get the camera and talk to her”.

Lally also had a camera on his bike for recording purposes, but told police the footage from the time of the incident had already been recorded over.

However, despite his initial claims of self-defense, on Wednesday Mr Lally pleaded guilty to common assault and entering a vehicle without the owner's consent at Manly Local Court.

A third charge of stalk or intimidate with the intention of causing fear of physical or mental harm was withdrawn by the prosecution.

Mr Lally did not appear at the hearing, nor at two previous court dates listed last month.

Monique told Daily Mail Australia she was “really disappointed” by Mr Lally's attempts to have his punishment reduced.

“I don't think men should be able to hit women in broad daylight, in their homes, or in their vehicles,” she said.

“Hitting me in the chest was completely unacceptable.

“It is really revolting to not be able to travel freely as a single mum without the fear of being assaulted.'

Mr Lally who has a $3.6million north shore home was appointed as the independent chair of investment management company Equity Trustees Superannuation Limited in 2018.

He was previously the CEO for industry fund Sunsuper, which recently merged with QSuper to become Australian Retirement Trust.

Mr Lally also represented Ireland at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, competing in the individual cycling road race event, with his sporting achievement celebrated via a painting of him on a bike in Dublin.

A sentence date for Mr Lally is yet to be set.