Edinburgh towpath warning

It’s the other end of the UK from me, but this from the BBC caught my attention – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g7j406ywdo

It appears that some idiot doesn’t like cyclists and threatened to throw a 9 year old cyclist into the canal. It might be something to be mindful of if your children or other family members cycle the towpath.

some idiot

I read the article and came away feeling like there’s someone with mental health issues in need of help; I could be completely wrong, of course.

But fair to give a warning to anyone using that path.

There’s been a spare of this lately, all the same guy. He doesn’t seem to care if it’s day or night, what size or gender his victims are and has recently physically assaulted people too.

They’ve had a helicopter out for him twice that I’ve seen with no success. It’s a funny do and I hope he’s caught soon, but I don’t see what the police can do with people like this that will actually work. He won’t have a real deterrent punishment and a talking to won’t help.

He won’t have a real deterrent punishment and a talking to won’t help.

Unless he threatens or assaults the wrong person.

Plain clothes police cycling along that section, get the bastard caught in the act.

he shouted at her that the path was for pedestrians only.

he sounds like the type of guy who will get behind the provision of safe cycling infrastrucutre rather than some paint in the gutter of a main road.

He won’t have a real deterrent punishment and a talking to won’t help.

Any local memebers around to go and push him in the canal?

i wonder if he squares up to everyone, or just 9 year old girls.

i wonder if he squares up to everyone, or just 9 year old girls.

See comments above

I might be cycling that way on Saturday (Glasgow to Edinburgh) so fingers crossed I meet the chap and can ensure he gets a good bath…

and +1 on a plain clothes copper cycling there for the next few days..

That’s close to where I live, I don’t cycle along that bit much (though I do sometimes use the canal a little bit west of there when riding to/from the Pentlands) but I do walk along it occasionally. It gets used a lot by cyclists and is part of NCR 75, so will be signposted as a cycle route, though obviously that sort of logic is unlikely to have much effect on someone like this.

For those saying just push him in, he doesn’t sound like someone you can mess with. He’s already hospitalised an adult man in the same spot he approached the 9 year old girl.

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/crime/edinburgh-police-hunting-for-man-after-series-of-attacks-on-4828185

Although actually the description of the guy is different. Which is in some ways more concerning of there are several of them about.

Is it just me that’s wondering how we’ve reached a point where our society can’t, won’t or doesn’t know how to deal with these kind of people anymore?

Rightly or wrongly I feel like even 20 years ago this fella would have been swiftly dealt with by someone and taught a lesson.

Rightly or wrongly I feel like even 20 years ago this fella would have been swiftly dealt with by someone and taught a lesson.

Or he’d have had access to the support and help he seems to need.

some idiot

I read the article and came away feeling like there’s someone with mental health issues in need of help; I could be completely wrong, of course.

they aren’t mutually exclusive – you can have mental health issues AND be an idiot.

Is it just me that’s wondering how we’ve reached a point where our society can’t, won’t or doesn’t know how to deal with these kind of people anymore?

these kind of people? I don’t think it’s obvious what kind of people we are dealing with here. It’s unusual enough that it’s a not a box you can immediately identify. I’m actually reasonably confident that if there is sufficient evidence he will end up with a sentence that reduces the risk of further offending.  The “push him in” solution probably just adds others to the list of people he hates.

Rightly or wrongly I feel like even 20 years ago this fella would have been swiftly dealt with by someone and taught a lesson.

really?  In 2004 you think this would have been resolved by vigilante action, but those people have not come forward now to either deal with it or report him to the cops for them to deal with… seems identifying the suspect is the problem.

Is it just me that’s wondering how we’ve reached a point where our society can’t, won’t or doesn’t know how to deal with these kind of people anymore?

Why do you draw the conclusion that society “can’t, won’t or doesn’t know how to deal with these kind of people anymore”? The alleged perpetrator has not even been identified yet.

Rightly or wrongly I feel like even 20 years ago this fella would have been swiftly dealt with by someone and taught a lesson.

I completely missed that period 20 years ago when swift vigilante justice was teaching people lessons.

Back in the real world, I worked with someone who was pushed into the Union Canal a few years ago. The person who did it was prosecuted and got 150 hours of community service.