and then gives me a long rant for no reason, with no basis in law, can I – legally – just tell him to fvck off, and cycle on? Or omit the "fvck off", but just ride on anyway? If either of these responses will land me in the station – what will be the legal basis for this?
I ask because a few mornings ago on my commute, a cop pulled me over and shouted at me for quite some time, for, I kid you not, performing a f*cking bunnyhop – over a pothole, on a badly maintained road. I actually explained to him "I was going over a pothole", and he literally replied "never mind the potholes, I have just seen you perform a jump in the road for no reason whatsoever". A real brain of Britain! He then went on about "where is your bell", "where is your helmet", etc.
I just said "yeah, good point", but I felt so emasculated and wish I'd told him to fvck himself with a pinecone.
I'm a trainee solicitor and do some good human rights work, I know about the grounds police need to arrest and stop and search you. But what is their legal basis for simply stopping you for a word? Was the cop berating me, in law, equivalent merely to some yob shouting at me in the street, in which case I could duly have told him, er, where to go?