Moped rider jailed for three years for punching, robbing, and threatening to stab cyclist

A moped-riding thief who attacked a cyclist, breaking his nose, before returning moments later to threaten to stab the rider and rob his wallet, has been jailed for more than three years.

Luke Elmer was with an accomplice on a moped when they assaulted the cyclist and stole his wallet in what a police officer described as a “completely unprovoked attack” on Cambridge’s Mill Road in August last year.

After CCTV footage led to his arrest, the 19-year-old pleaded guilty to robbery, assault causing actual bodily harm, fraud by false representation, and failing to surrender to bail. He was sentenced to three years and two weeks in prison at Cambridge Crown Court earlier this week.

> Shocking footage shows masked men attempting to steal cyclist’s bike after forcing him off the road with SUV

The attack, which took place on 3 August 2022, occurred as a cyclist was riding alone on a bridge on Mill Road in the southeast of the city, where he was overtaken by Elmer and another man riding a moped, with one of the men gesturing towards the cyclist with a raised middle finger as they passed.

When the cyclist, a man in his 30s, reached the other side of the bridge, he noticed the moped parked by the side of the road. After getting back on the motorbike, Elmer and his accomplice proceeded to ride alongside the cyclist, cutting across him and grabbing his t-shirt to make him stop.

Elmer then punched the victim twice in the face before riding off.

However, the cyclist – who continued to ride on following the attack – was again cut off by the pair just moments later. Footage obtained by Cambridgeshire Constabulary shows Elmer confronting and punching the cyclist again, while one of the men demanded that he hand over his wallet and threatened to stab him.

The victim complied, and a few minutes later Elmer and the other attacker, who wore a face mask, entered a nearby shop where they used the cyclist’s bank card to make two transactions totalling £108.20.

The cyclist suffered a suspected broken nose in the attack, as well as swelling, bruising, and cuts to his face.

Elmer was later arrested after he was identified using the shop’s CCTV, though his accomplice was never found. On Monday, he was jailed for three years and two weeks.

DC Sarah Longbottom said the 19-year-old’s “behaviour that day was absolutely disgraceful”.

“He clearly felt he could rob and attack the victim with impunity,” she continued. “The victim was minding his own business, cycling along, when Elmer and his accomplice targeted him in this completely unprovoked attack. I’m pleased he was identified and he has now faced justice for his actions.”

> Prolific thief jailed for deliberately driving into cyclist before passenger made off with bike

Elmer’s sentence is comparable to another thief, this time in Sunderland, who was jailed for three years and nine months last August after deliberately driving into a cyclist, who was then threatened with a machete and forced to hand over his bike.

Robert Smith and an accomplice targeted the victim, who was riding an e-bike on his own in the Roker Avenue area of Sunderland in May 2022.

As the cyclist turned down an alley, the 25-year-old pulled out of an adjacent street and deliberately drove his Vauxhall Insignia into the rider. Both Smith and the front-seat passenger then surrounded the stricken cyclist and warned him that they were in possession of a machete.

The cyclist, fearing for his life, then relinquished the e-bike (reportedly worth around £4,000) to the thieves, with Smith driving off in the car while the passenger rode off on the stolen bike.

Elmer’s sentencing also comes in the same week that a cyclist was assaulted in Worcestershire by two masked men in broad daylight who attempted – and ultimately failed – to steal his bike after forcing him off the road with a SUV in what appeared to be a targeted bikejacking attack yesterday morning.

The cyclist was reportedly followed for around four miles by the SUV driver, before being cornered in a driveway, with only the intervention of the house’s owner and a passing motorist forcing the thieves to leave without the bike.

> New warning as thieves target cyclists in countryside around London

The brutal assault in Cambridge is one of a spate of seemingly targeted attacks on cyclists by moped riders in recent years.

In August, a Kent cyclist raised the alarm about bikejackings in the area, sharing video footage of two moped-riding attackers forcing him off the road in a frightening incident on a busy road.

Peter Roper sent road.cc the video of the attempted bikejacking which happened on the A25 in Brasted, while he was riding his Trek e-bike. The cyclist said he saw a moped pass in the opposite direction, shortly before the rider and passenger pulled alongside to threaten him with a knife and push him off the road.

Fortunately, Peter was able to mount the pavement due to the dropped kerb, ending the attack.

> Cyclist threatened by moped-riding thieves in latest bikejacking attempt

In the most high-profile bikejacking incident in recent years, in autumn 2021 professional cyclist Alexandar Richardson was knocked off his bike, dragged for 100 metres by muggers on motorbikes, and threatened with a machete during a shocking attack in Richmond Park.

In April, a teenager, aged 15 when Richardson was attacked, was jailed for 12 months for the bikejacking.