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news
Police tape (CC licensed by freefotouk on Flickr)Hertfordshire cyclist pushed into canal in unprovoked assault
Police in Hertfordshire are appealing for information after a woman cycling along a towpath in Hemel Hempstead was pushed into the Grand Union Canal in an unprovoked assault.
According to the website Hemel Today, the attack which happened a little after 5pm last Friday left the victim shaken and her bike underwater, where it remains. It also caused her mobile phone to be ruined.
http://www.hemeltoday.co.uk/news/more-news/female-cyclist-shoved-into-ca...
The incident occurred near B&Q, situated on Two Waters Road when the cyclist, aged 29, rode past the man who pushed her into the canal. The woman, who does not wish to reveal her name, was unable to get a description of him.
Her husband told Hemel Today: “The side of the canal was too high for her to climb up and it was only thanks to a boat nearby she was able to grab hold of a rope and pull herself up.
“The bike is still in the canal. She was so scared and because it was so dark her only option was to head towards the road, the same way the man had gone.”
A spokesman for Hertfordshire Constabulary said: “We are appealing for witnesses to this unprovoked attack to come forward.
“Anyone who was in the area at the time of the incident and remembers seeing what happened or a man acting unusually prior to or after the incident should contact us.”
The victim’s husband added: “The only appeal I would like to make is whether anyone else saw the man.
“My wife recalls another cyclist ride past her going the opposite way so there is a chance he may have seen this man or even had some sort of confrontation with him which may have contributed to the attack.”
Police can be contacted on 101, quoting crime reference D1/14/7144, or alternatively anyone with information can get in touch with the charity, Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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12 comments
Im always wary on towpaths, and will never pass on the water side of the path.
Unfortunately there is something in human nature that will always lead to this sort of thing.
Hope the police catch him, but it doesnt sound like it will be easy.
Well someone has to - and luckily low life's like this are few and far between.
I too won't pass on the water side. My fear is if I fall in, or am pushed in like this unfortunate woman, I won't even be able to unclip and will rot on the bottom of the canal along with my bike! With people like this idiot out there, I think I'll just avoid tow paths altogether. Hope someone saw something and this guy is caught and pays heavily.
I fell into the Bridgewater canal this time last year, fortunately the bike remained on the towpath. It's almost impossible to pull yourself up onto the coping stones, you can't get a foothold on anything. Fortunately, someone helped pull me out, but if it had been at night I'd have had to swim to the opposite bank and find my way back on foot - with a couple of grand of mountain bike on its own for an hour or so, you can imagine how that would have gone.
I hope they get the scum who did this.
It is highly probably the bike has nothing to do the attack. If you are prepared to push a cyclist into freezing waters - not even knowing if they can swim - then they could just as easily do it to anyone on foot, an old person, a child.
This is a very serious incident and they should be scouring cctv and getting out on the street to catch this screwed up sicko. Its times like this when you wish you were on hand to witness something like this and pummel the crap out of the culprit.
It is highly probably the bike has nothing to do the attack. If you are prepared to push a cyclist into freezing waters - not even knowing if they can swim - then they could just as easily do it to anyone on foot, an old person, a child.
This is a very serious incident and they should be scouring cctv and getting out on the street to catch this screwed up sicko. Its times like this when you wish you were on hand to witness something like this and pummel the crap out of the culprit.
Was she wearing a life jacket?
What can the Police do if witnesses don't come forward? The issue isn't the Police, imo, its the Courts(and CPS/PF) that let people down. Poor Prosecutors who would rather lets criminals plea to lesser charges than do their jobs and prosecute criminals fully.
It [wouldn't happen|only happened] [if|because] [she was [not] wearing [a helmet|hi-viz|Urbanist]|[hanging's too good for motorists]|[[Boris Johnson|Joanna Lumley]]]
Get a rear facing camera and hope it is a waterproof one. I dont mess around anymore and am documenting rides for my own protection. The police and the authorities cannot be trusted anymore to look out for us since they are too busy eating donuts and building bombs as well as starting wars then to deal with the lives of cyclists. This is bound to get me on some S^&^-list in GCHQ. Tin hat? Think again!
I do hope the police takes this very seriously. The chances of her drowning in the cold canal water was significant; this is a highly disturbing unprovoked assault.
More chance of plaiting piss mate, the reason assaults like this happen is because the police have allowed resentment of cyclists to bubble and fester with their refusal to do anything, ever.
My suspicion is that with all the campaigns against sexism, homophobia and racism etc, the police need to keep an "out-group" they can get their bullying kicks from.