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news
Scene of the crime: Gladstone Road.pngPolice seek pedestrian who tried to destroy bicycle that came too close
Police are seeking a pedestrian who tried to destroy a man’s bicycle after a collision in Northampton.
The cyclist on Gladstone road rode up a dropped curb near to two men on Tuesday morning when one of the men stepped backwards, causing the cyclist to fall off.
The pedestrian then repeatedly kicked the bike, causing it to have ‘extensive damage’, according to the police.
The offender was of mixed race, aged between 18 and 23, around 6ft 1in and of slim build. He was wearing a grey tracksuit top and blue and grey baseball cap. He had a black goatee beard.
Police are investigating the incident, which happened around 10.30am, as criminal damage.
Witnesses or anyone with information about this incident can contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Last summer we wrote about a similar incident in which a man who attacked a cyclist with a metal bar in Croydon as he stopped at a zebra crossing.
The motorist, thought to be in his mid-20s, launched an attack on Matthew Ballard, along with a tirade of verbal abuse, when the cyclist stopped to let someone cross the road.
Mr Ballard said the driver "could have killed him" with the pole, which he swung out of the window of a Vauxhall Astra as he drove past. Ballard said the argument, which took place at about 8.15pm on Addiscombe Road, Croydon, started when he confronted the man for driving too close to him.
He said: "I was slowing down at the time because there was someone wanting to cross the zebra crossing. So I turned around and said, 'What are you doing mate?'
"The person crossed the zebra crossing, I went forward and he's come speeding in front of me trying to push me off my bike. I'm saying, 'What the hell are you doing?' and he's mouthing off, swearing."
The driver then produced a yellow bar, thought to be a steering wheel lock, and threatened Mr Ballard with it.
The cyclist said: "I tell him to do one and cycle off, he's let me go and as he's driving past flung his arm out the window with the metal pole and smashed me right in the head.
"Luckily I managed to stay on my bike but he could have knocked me unconscious. He could have killed me. He could have hit me in the wrong place, the temple or whatever, and killed me with a metal pole.
"It's left a massive lump and a little gash. It was painful. Unfortunately I wasn't wearing a helmet that night, I was just wearing a baseball cap."
The attacker then drove off at speed, while Mr Ballard, who suffered swelling and cuts to his head, went to a local gym to call for police. He was taken home by officers after paramedics failed to arrive.
Latest Comments
- the little onion 2 min 3 sec ago
It was absolutely an indirect, involuntary exclamation....
- Smoggysteve 39 min 6 sec ago
In cases like this, I think the issue isn't so much commuter cyclists or recreational road cyclists but more likely 'roaming kids on bikes' like...
- Clem Fandango 50 min 37 sec ago
Yes yes, but road crime isn't actual crime is it? Did you see the articles over the weekend about the DVLA figures for those with penalty points...
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I beleive papers are being prepared in the US. courts, regarding interference claims against two labour employees who have been activley doing the...
- David9694 2 hours 13 min ago
Crash on Rowlands Hill flips car on its roof https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/24701841.crash-rowlands-hill-flip...
- Steve K 2 hours 23 min ago
Given I took this picture Beaulieu House, I wouldn't expect any consistency.
- Ysgubor 3 hours 16 min ago
Stupidity. https://bigthink.com/thinking/bonhoeffers-theory-stupidity-evil/#:~:text...'s%20%E2%80%9Ctheory%20of%20stupidity%E2%80%9D%3A,take...
- Capt Sisko 4 hours 43 min ago
I can't comment on how easy it is to change the batteries on the Fly 12, but I have just changed one on the rearward Fly 6 CE (Gen 2). The only...
- OldRidgeback 6 hours 12 min ago
It doesn't seem to be the most efficient piece of design. But I don't see why the police should bother about it, given that it's highly unlikely to...
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17 comments
Assuming the photo illustrates the location then the dropped kerb gives access to a shared facility. If the pedestrian had stepped back into a lamp post, would he have attacked that too?
I don't know- motorists complain all the time about street furniture jumping out at them
[[[[[ Cycling on pavements (okay, "walkways" if you're American) is for five-year-olds, surely? Bloody annoying, I feel, whether the (adult)rider hits you or not. I've been clipped twice, and startled often. Don't do it, please.
OK, I clearly missed the bit in the article that said it *wasn't* a shared use path... Oh, wait, it doesn't say that at all. Suggest you don't jump to conclusions, m'kay?
I'm 'presuming' that the inclusion of the photo at the top (Google Streetview?) is the actual spot that it happened??
And that photo shows an 'ickle bike symbol on the 'footpath'...
But then presumption may be too presumptive on my part....
Curbing kerbside aggression
"Rode up onto a dropped kerb when one of the men stepped backwards causing the cyclist to fall off" - doesn't that sound more like the pedestrian stepped backwards and walked into the bike, not that the bike rode into him? So, was *his* fault, not the cyclist. I can't get the image of John Cleese giving his car a damned good thrashing out of my head, which I'm sure isn't the look the vandal was aiming for..,
While it is unacceptable for the individual to damage the bicycle on the same account the guy bumping up onto the pavement should have been prepared for the pedestrians to make some kind of random change of direction. A risk that we are all aware of when using shared use pavements which this one appears to be going by the pic. Blame is on both sides, but to vandalise some bodies property is not the way yodel with it. The John Cleese image is one that also sprung to mind as well.
It is a KERB, not a "curb".
It is a KERB, not a "curb".
I don't know which is sadder the fact that this happened or the comment by tsarouxaz
Probably no hivis on the bike, so it was invisible and he was just demonstrating some judo moves to his pal.
"The offender was of mixed race, aged between 18 and 23, around 6ft 1in and of slim build. He was wearing a grey tracksuit top and blue and grey baseball cap. He had a black goatee beard."
aren't they always like that?
No. They aren't.
can someone ban this delightful gentleman?
Could the delightful gentleman please expand and make an even bigger arse of himself?
Fud.