*Hypothetical question!*

If I caught someone trying to nick my bike, grabbed them, told them I was doing a citizens arrest and used said lock (assuming they haven't broken it) to lock their neck to a lamppost (without being tight around neck)….would that be excessive force?

From askthe.police.uk

The law states that,

* Any person can arrest a person who is in the act of committing an indictable offence or
* Anyone whom he reasonably suspects to be committing such an offence, if
o it is not reasonably practicable for a constable to make the arrest instead and
o it is necessary to arrest the person for one of the below reasons,

To prevent the person in question,

* causing physical injury to himself or any other person;
* suffering physical injury;
* causing loss of or damage to property; or
* making off before a constable can assume responsibility for him.

Think there would be a case of false imprisonment there!

potentially they could cause themselves physical injury if they had their neck locked to a lamp post. Then you'd have to prove it is self inflicted.

I'd say you'd be better off sitting on them til the fuzz arrived.

Why, exactly, would it be false imprisonment, when the perp has been caught in the act, and police advice states that an arrest can be made to stop said perp absconding. I could do even better, in that I use a Masterlock StreetCuff to secure my bike, which is a heavy-duty handcuff with plastic covering to prevent paint damage. Perfect for locking hands behind back with pole between. Locals would be encouraged to throw rotten fruit… 😈

i think as long as you took pics/ video and posted it on here/ youtube it would be fine

Yes illegal, but potentially very funny!

If he was that interested in the bike, lock him tight to the bike and set him free! run after him shouting 'stop thief' (or words to that effect). He can't argue then that he wasn't trying to make off with your bike!

Think I'm thinking about this too much! 😆

Very Judge Dredd that. I like it. Leave him there for the H-wagon.

dont bother with the police just lock his neck to the post and ride away.

Don't bother with the police, just smash his head in with the d lock

i'm with markenduro on this.

If he/she is a bike thief surely they are pretty handy with opening D locks, and would therefore just open the lock and walk away? I dont get your point?

NYC Messenger approach to the problem

Don't steal bikes 'Bro

(you paying attention Kaesae??

Not at all illegal if you are sure to tell the fieth that you are locking them up for their own safety and welfare………

Post the vid willya?

😉
SB

Once you have locked him to the lamppost, place a black plastic bag over his head and secure it with a ziptie.

This will prevent him being embarrassed by people staring.

you can arrest them but i do not believe you can restrain them. my understanding of a citizens arrest is that you ask them not to go anywhere! 🙄

Citizens arrest does not exist.

you can arrest someone for an arrestable offence. If you don;t know what that is, go look it up – for instance, unlawful arrest is an arrestable offence

Sadly, I suspect that locking someone by the neck would not be viewed as "reasonable", otherwise the police would be using such tactics.

You can however restrain them, as long as you do not use excessive force.

Sadly, I suspect that locking someone by the neck would not be viewed as "reasonable", otherwise the police would be using such tactics.

having seen the imagery of how the London police have behaved recently…. you sure they don't

I had a case where I came across the thief, in a café, with my stolen bike propped up outside.
I locked up my bike to the one I was riding and confronted the thief.
Since he was not actually on the bike, he in a roundabout way shrugged his shoulders.

I think you'd be in more hot water doing it your way TBH. It sounds like imprisonment & you could end up in the dock & not the thief.

PS – he had the stupidity to send his younger brother to tell me they wanted the lights that he's put on the bike returned. YOu can, of course, only guess at the fruity language that followed.

And you'd get a £1000 fine or 30 days inside and the bike thief would get a suspended sentence.

I'm sure there was something on the ever-excellent Bikesnob NYC about someone who'd chained a bike thief to a set of railings and put a sign on him saying "Bike Thief". IIRC the police were eventually called to cut him free as passers-by were beginning to get a bit over-zealous in their desire to punch the thieving scumbag.

Citizens arrest apparently does exist, but isnt really named that, it's general powers of any citizen, rather than a specific thing. But anyway…

Clicky

Citizens arrest apparently does exist, but isnt really named that, it's general powers of any citizen, rather than a specific thing. But anyway…

As I said, Citizen's arrest doesn;t exist – Anyone can make an arrest for an arrestable offence.

It's called an "Any Person Arrest" – which is effectively just shortened to citizen's, lets not be too picky 😉

I don't think you'd manage to do this by yourself unless the thief was very, very frightened or already badly hurt. In which case there wouldn't be a lot of point.

Love the image, but I'm not convinced it's feasible. 🙂

Make sure you put women's clothing on them first

I call this image: "3/4 of a dog pi££ing up a tree".
Think it will be exhibited at the RA in the summer.