Awful !! I’ve noticed a clear degradation in people’s behavior in last few weeks. Not just cyclist related but folks in general 🙁 Lockdown fever I reckon
h and don’t try and take them on..
You don't have to take them on. (Look how much they love their little Fiesta FP06VVS and GY11TCV pieces of shit.)
Letter to the PCC is a good idea, depends if he hates cyclists I guess! Will copy my MP in, different consistency (Woking vs Hart where it happened) tho.
I'll give it a couple of days to see if the neighbour hood team bother reaching out (sounded unlikely!)
Will copy my MP in, different consistency
Usually slippery or scaly.
Sadly because of incidents like this in the past this is the reason I have cameras on all of.my road bikes.
I only have rears unfortunately but it would have caught this bellend.
I have had one successful prosecution since using them. My local police force (Avon and Somerset) seem to be pretty good at acting on the footage.
I got taken down in the same way 2 months ago, multiple broken bones and a punctured lung. Two days in hospital on day one of the lock down.
Jesus! Hope you’re healing up well. Some people are just absolute ****s.
Sadly because of incidents like this in the past this is the reason I have cameras on all of.my road bikes.
@eskay, which ones do you use?
I've in Fleet for 27 years - sadly it doesn't surprise me - I'm moving 500 miles north in 5 weeks because of stuff like this.
I got punched by a car driver in Midhurst one Saturday morning - fortunately an off-duty policeman was cycling by at the time and saw it, so the guy got charged and fined, otherwise he'd probably have got away with it too.
I've got the adli copies of the cycliq fly Integrated rear light/camera.
My local Aldi was selling them off for £15 a couple of years ago and I bought 4. I have one on every time I go out.
If they ever fail I will buy one of the originals. Quality is good, you can clearly see driver and registration
Paint stripper in a fairy liquid bottle
Ask for a crime number, that means it been recorded properly
Then write in and ask for the decision not to prosecute to be reviewed as it's an assault and you can id the perp
That is poor, I'd be very tempted to take matters into my own hands after that.
Put it on the police Facebook page, write to local councillor, MP etc. I once saw a birds egg had fallen from the nest, cracked and completely cooked itself on a hot bonnet, the white had bonded itself to the lacquer in the process.
Don’t take revenge, it will come back on you.
Glad you are ok
Not everyones solution, but if that is where those cars get parked up I'd be back with a hammer and I'd make sure they were off the road for a good while.
Thing is, you can't have these scrotes going round hitting people, whether they're walking, jogging, cycling, or just crossing the road - and the cops just basically go "Oh well, you shouldn't have been there" and that's the end of it!
Glad to hear you’re ok and not badly injured.
Try and find out their names then try to find them on social media. My bet is they’ve recorded it for a laugh and will do it again to someone else.
Hammer is noisy. Whack a syringe of 2 part epoxy down the drivers door gap for effective sealing. Nice and quiet.
So would this count as antisocial behaviour? In which case could a s59 be issued? Just thinking if it could it's better than nothing.
Failure to report a collision....
That carrys 9 points.....
Or epoxy the door handles
Feed the birds on top of their cars, I understand our flying friends can reshape body work very quickly.
Or
Sad to say I think We're going to see a bow wave of post lock down antisocial behaviour, violence and general Thug****tery.
With the streets quieter for the last couple of months it's been harder for the scrotes to engage in their normal patterns of behaviour without attracting extra attention, now Bozza has effectively lifted half the sanctions they'll feel a bit happier that they can get "lost in the noise" and the Rozzers won't prioritise their little japes.
I'm also seeing an upswing in bicycle use locally (anecdotally).
It might just be seasonal, lock down induced activity or a mixture, but more cyclists, being generally more visible just means more targets for them.
I just hope this whole incident doesn't affect you too much OP, you've done you're bit in reporting them, don't let the police's intransigence upset you too much. Try to forget about it and move on, the worst thing would be for the little shits to rob you of your mental well being.
Thanks cookeaa. I think i'm pretty chill about the situation, doesn't seem to have freaked me too much and still intending to go on my regular ride tomorrow. Guess we'll see if i'm freaked out then - will probably avoid that rode for a bit! I think the fact I chased them down and confronted them is doing my mental health some good. Just putting it down to ****ers being ****ers.
Ok, opening myself up to some judgment here and I can't recommend that anyone does it but...
I'd leave things a few months, find myself walking past those cars one night with a mask on (Covid obvs) and decorate the cars with paint stripper.
These guys absolutely WILL have a load of "acquaintances" that they'll assume to have done it way before they even vaguely remember the guy they punched eons back. It's definitely a play the long game scenario.
Anyway and most importantly....
Glad you are ok op, could have turned out much different.
Tempting as it is to take up one or more of the suggestions on here don't see why you should you be drawn in to the risk of escalating retribution or prosecution by the police yourself.
The attitude of whichever police are dealing with this is what sucks the most and that is what needs addressing.
Given you were a vulnerable road user and these morons deliberately violently attacked you whilst riding at speed down a hill you have a pretty serious example of common assault and arguably a case of dangerous driving.
Don't accept anyone telling you that you don't have evidence because you do, you are able to identify the vehicle, you have pictures of those present at the time as you followed and then took them. There is no requirement for video evidence, your account should be sufficient. Unless you have a history of making false allegations or a string of convictions for dishonesty there is no reason for your word to be doubted.
Unlikely that whatever oik owns the car has a blanket insurance policy so he was either driving or allowing someone to use it un-insured even if you couldn't identify him.
Ask who has made the decision not to investigate the crime and ask for their reasons in writing as you intend to make complaint.
If the police can't be bothered to knock on the door of the registered keeper so he thinks twice before driving close enough to a cyclist to allow his passenger to do this then they deserve the aggro of dealing with a formal complaint.
Glad you're okay mate, could have been a lot lot worse. Absolute morons like this are this reason I don't ride on the road.
I used to commute when I worked and lived in Stockport but a lad in a gti with his mates in th3 car tried to run me off the road.
Wingmirrors are a lot frailer than I thought.
As a fellow local please take it further and don't let the cops fob you off. The next person these idiots do it to might not be so lucky. It wasn't only assault as the police stated, imho at the very least it was also a close pass if they managed to hit you from a moving vehicle. Someone was definitely watching over you as that is a fast downhill. I'm actually sitting here pretty fuming, if I punched a copper would they come out with the it's only assault line, I think not and rightly so.
Email from the police:
We will not be investigating this crime as there are currently no further proportionate lines of enquiry. All crimes reported will be shared with your local Neighbourhood Policing Team so they are aware of the crime happening in your area.
Should your crime be linked to other crimes or if our investigation teams need to contact you, they will be in touch.
I'll reply asking for a detailed reasoning for why they're not investigating and listing the evidence I have.
Mailed them this. I realise it's pointless, but it made me feel better.
Hi xxx,
Thank you for your mail regarding the unprovoked assault that I was subjected to by the occupant of a car as I cycled down a steep hill yesterday evening. As you can imagine I'm somewhat disappointed that no action is to be taken.Whilst I appreciate that the likelihood of a conviction might not be as high as some other crimes, I do feel that it would be proportionate for an officer to at least visit the registered keepers of the cars and question them. As it stands at the moment, they will experience zero consequences to their crime - it's worth repeating that given I was cycling at 55km/h (within the speed limit for that road) if I had crashed after they leaned out of their moving car and punched me there is a fair likelihood that I would not be in a position to type this email.
I would remind you of the evidence I have presented:
1. My full and detailed account of the incident, including an account given immediately after it occurred to a 999 operator who told me no cars were available
2. I have a video of the perpetrators, including one of them saying "he was in the middle of the lane", after I chased them down (I kept them in sight at all times)
3. I have photos of them and provided a description
4. I have provided you with the registrations of the cars involved (FP06VSS being the one holding the person who punched me, and their accomplices car being GY11TCV)I'm not sure entirely why my account is seemingly doubted - I have no convictions, no history of making false allegations, I am an upstanding member of my community, and I have no history of dishonesty whatsoever. Your email states that the details of the crime will be shared with the neighbourhood policing team, and yet no one has requested that I provide them with the photo or video evidence - I don't think it's too much of a leap to suspect that there is a reasonable chance that the people that did this may have appeared on neighbourhood policing teams radar before.
Whilst I am thankfully uninjured, other than being a bit shaken up, the next person that they do this to could experience fatal or life changing consequences.
Therefore please can you provide me with the reasoning for the decision not to investigate this crime, so that I can include this in my complaint to the PCC.
I have taken the liberty of copying in my MP and the PCC for Hampshire.
Regards
Excellent work Ewan.
Some what surprisingly - my MP just phoned me off the back of that agreeing completely (I included my number and address in the email). He's going to email the PCC as well!
Hopefully i've at least spoiled someones day at Fleet Police Station.
That's a fantastically written letter Ewan.
Well Done!
Good work!
Can you name your MP?
Jonathan Lord is my MP.
Evidently I've made someone twitch at Hampshire Constabulary as they've just emailed me to say a mistake has been made.
I have reviewed the contents of the report and the email below, based on the email below and the fact there is video and photos of the offenders, my belief is this matter should be screened in by Contact Management for consideration of a formal investigation. I believe the decision made at the original call to file the incident was not in line with the force’s policy on such incidents.
I will provide feedback to the line manager of the officer who dealt with the call below.
This matter will be passed to our Triage Team to make a full assessment and to allocate to an investigating unit if it meets the threshold for a formal investigation.
Isn't that odd eh
There's a chance that the young gentlemen have got trackers on their cars to reduce their insurance.
That may give a fix on the cars location.
Also I bet they will gob off on fb as well.
Excellent @Ewan
And excellent work by the forum for encouraging escalation through the correct and effective channels.
Please keep everyone updated as best you can as this progresses, should hopefully be the encouragement that others need to report similar incidents.
Well that's taken a far more promising turn than I expected. All down to a superbly drafted letter. Well done for following this through, I hope the little scrotes at least learn that there aren't always zero consequences for such ****ish behaviour.
Nicely worded complaint Ewan, so pleased they are seemingly now doing something about it for your and everyone else's sake. Keep us informed.
Amazing initial response from the police - if you were to "only assault" the perps, I'm sure officers would be knocking on your door.
(Good that somebody seems to have changed their minds, though)
Such incidents should at the very least warrant a "an incident has been reported, and this is a formal warning that any further occurrences will lead to more robust action being taken" visit, just to let them know that their card has been marked
Also surprised that photographic evidence of them parking on the pavement, in a double yellow line area, did t attract any attention either.
If I was a policeman, I'd also be be round to breathalyse them, too, as it's unclear what's in that can.
Night time drive past their parked car, syringe full of brake fluid on their bonnet if it was me......
Glad, and sonewhat surprised this escalated in the right way!
Just goes to show... well, you know, don’t take the first response as the official line.
Nothing moves faster than a civil servant covering their arse apparently.
Whilst i'm pleased that they're going to at least give it a cursory glance before not doing anything, I am intensely aware that if I wasn't a reasonably articulate middle class bloke who understands what the PCC was and knew my MPs email address nothing would have been done. Middle class privilege is alive and well :-/
If I'm ever needing to complain to the police, I'm using Ewan's letter as a template!
FFS, a u-turn in 1hr.
Well done OP, but it's depressing how little they can be bothered until pressed.
As others have said, glad you are ok and great letter. Hats off to your MP too.
Anyone calling for Jonathan lord for PM yet? 😂
