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Cyclist rode for three days to attend court hearing for riding on motorway

Says it is against his beliefs to travel by car and only admitted charge to avoid repeating the journey to court

"I did not intend to cycle on the M5 but I had to try and find my way to Bristol and then London," was Balin Hobbs’ not entirely watertight defence for riding on a motorway on April 29. The 52-year-old Devonian – who says it is against his spiritual beliefs to be driven in petrol or diesel vehicles – had ridden for three days to defend himself at Exeter Magistrates Court.

Devon Live reports that Hobbs was riding back from an ex-partner’s home in Bovey Tracey to London when police were called to the northbound carriageway of the M5 between junctions 28 and 29, where he had been spotted cycling on the hard shoulder.

When a patrol car pulled in ahead of him, he moved into the inside lane to pass before continuing on his way.

Richard Parkhouse, prosecuting, said that when officers pulled alongside and shouted for him to stop, he refused and shouted back: “It's you blocking the road, get away – I am not stopping until I get to London.”

Parkhouse added: "He called the officers cunts and told them to fuck off.”

He said police continued to "monitor" Hobbs and eventually persuaded him to exit at junction 29.

When they attempted to arrest him, he shouted: “You're putting me in shackles for no reason. Policing is by consent and I don't consent."

He is said to have resisted by twisting left and right and it reportedly took three officers to put him into the car.

Hobbs had ridden from London to Exeter for his hearing and slept on the courthouse steps. He admitted using a pedal cycle on the motorway and a second charge of resisting arrest, but said he was only doing so to avoid repeating the three-day ride to attend a trial.

"I have been intimidated into coming here with threats used against me – forcing me by bringing me in a vehicle which I do not want.

"I have cycled here over three days and will cycle back. I arrived last night and slept on the steps outside.

“I would rather be here under my own steam than use a car which used petrol – these are against my spiritual beliefs. I don't know what to do about a system which is supporting global destruction and destroying the natural environment.

“I don't support the car structure – I don't want to be here, nor do I want to be in prison. I collect sandwiches and give them out on the streets. I have no income, I don't sign on – people give me pennies."

Hobbs was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay a £20 victim surcharge.

He said the sentence was "fair enough".

When the chairman of the bench wished him a safe journey home and urged him not to take the motorway, he replied: "I know the way now. I turn left out of the court and keep going."

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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34 comments

Avatar
sodit | 6 years ago
0 likes

The bloody idiot is the thought that springs to mind its the hard shoulder not a cycle lane.

 

Saying that what a good idea if they had cyclepaths running along side motorways obviously seperated for safety but they normally are the most direct route.

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ConcordeCX replied to sodit | 6 years ago
0 likes

sodit wrote:

The bloody idiot is the thought that springs to mind its the hard shoulder not a cycle lane.

 

Saying that what a good idea if they had cyclepaths running along side motorways obviously seperated for safety but they normally are the most direct route.

i've been on a few similar paths running alongside the autoroute in France, and they are deeply unpleasant and very boring.

 

Avatar
Skylark | 6 years ago
1 like

What was the point of trying to arrest him in the first place if all they wanted was to provoke resistance in order to fabricate a claim? He was escorted off the MW so let it be.

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Beatnik69 | 6 years ago
1 like

Balin, son of Fundin?

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theironduck replied to Beatnik69 | 6 years ago
0 likes

Beatnik69 wrote:

Balin, son of Fundin?

He looks more like Gandalf tbh.  Do you think he wears a wizard's hat when he rides?

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Vehlin | 6 years ago
0 likes

His beliefs prevent him from travelling by transport that burns fossil fuels, yet rides a bike that was delivered in a container ship, then a lorry. He almost certainly eats food that at some point has been inside an internal combusion powered vehicle.

I'd take his beliefs more seriously if he'd rocked up on a home made bike made out of wood he'd sourced himself. However, judging from his interactions with the police I'd say he's just a prize twat.

Avatar
ConcordeCX replied to Vehlin | 6 years ago
6 likes

Vehlin wrote:

His beliefs prevent him from travelling by transport that burns fossil fuels, yet rides a bike that was delivered in a container ship, then a lorry. He almost certainly eats food that at some point has been inside an internal combusion powered vehicle.

I'd take his beliefs more seriously if he'd rocked up on a home made bike made out of wood he'd sourced himself. However, judging from his interactions with the police I'd say he's just a prize twat.

all or nothing for you, is it? What are you doing to save the world?

 

Avatar
zanf replied to ConcordeCX | 6 years ago
1 like

ConcordeCX wrote:
Vehlin wrote:

His beliefs prevent him from travelling by transport that burns fossil fuels, yet rides a bike that was delivered in a container ship, then a lorry. He almost certainly eats food that at some point has been inside an internal combusion powered vehicle.

I'd take his beliefs more seriously if he'd rocked up on a home made bike made out of wood he'd sourced himself. However, judging from his interactions with the police I'd say he's just a prize twat.

all or nothing for you, is it? What are you doing to save the world?

Killing themselves?

Avatar
hoski replied to Vehlin | 6 years ago
4 likes

Vehlin wrote:

His beliefs prevent him from travelling by transport that burns fossil fuels, yet rides a bike that was delivered in a container ship, then a lorry. He almost certainly eats food that at some point has been inside an internal combusion powered vehicle.

I'd take his beliefs more seriously if he'd rocked up on a home made bike made out of wood he'd sourced himself. However, judging from his interactions with the police I'd say he's just a prize twat.

 

I don't think you'd ever take his beliefs seriously.

 

And your first paragraph? Do you ever compromise or are all your actions and their externalities in exact alignment with your morals and beliefs?

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Rob Patrick | 6 years ago
0 likes

I wonder if this is Sean Conway's Dad? 

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Metaphor | 6 years ago
5 likes

Wait ... against his beliefs? This guy proves cycling is a religion. Any anti-cyclist rhetoric must be a hate crime!

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The _Kaner | 6 years ago
8 likes

If Mr Balin Hobbs gets in touch with me, I'll gladly refund his £20 victim surcharge.

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ChasP | 6 years ago
3 likes

£20 victim surcharge, who was the victim?

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tarquin_foxglove replied to ChasP | 6 years ago
2 likes
ChasP wrote:

£20 victim surcharge, who was the victim?

IIRC it goes to charities who support victims of crime, rather than the victim(s) of this particular crime.

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A V Lowe | 6 years ago
3 likes

Too often the only signs for a destination are via a motorway - eg Warrington-Liverpool , Queensferry-Perth &c so those without a map,or local knowledge have minimal choice?

I recall the laughter and ridicule at a cycle meeting in Liverpool - arriving in Warrington - dropped off at 4 am and as Liverpool was only about 20 miles away I decided to ride - but had to improvise my route by using my memory of the stations on the 1830 Liverpool & Manchester Railway, as the only signs directed me to use the (empty) M62 - quite quiet & pleasant to ride at 4 am but a slight risk of an errant HGV driver not spotting me. Sustrans suggested the Trans-Pennine Trail unlit not fully surfaced and a high potential to fall into the Ship Canal in places - plus no through signposting.

Avatar
don simon fbpe | 6 years ago
2 likes

No one does eccentrics like the British.

One point, if he doesn't support the "car structure". what was he doing an a bloody road?

Avatar
FluffyKittenofT... replied to don simon fbpe | 6 years ago
6 likes
don simon wrote:

No one does eccentrics like the British.

One point, if he doesn't support the "car structure". what was he doing an a bloody road?

Roads weren't built for cars ( (C) Carlton Reid?)

(Though motorways were, so perhaps your point stands)

Avatar
Ush replied to don simon fbpe | 6 years ago
6 likes
don simon wrote:

No one does eccentrics like the British.

One point, if he doesn't support the "car structure". what was he doing an a bloody road?

I would imagine that all the vast, green fields, hills and dales are strangled with barbed wire fences, walls and people waving shotguns shouting "gerroff moi land"

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Zermattjohn | 6 years ago
20 likes

"He called the officers cunts and told them to fuck off.”

Just love that detail!

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Canyon48 | 6 years ago
7 likes

'Bout normal for here in the South West!

From Devon Live

"Hobbs said the sentence was "fair enough", adding: "I know the way now, I turn left out of the court and keep going."

 

Avatar
psling | 6 years ago
4 likes

Shame his beliefs regarding the motor vehicle don't extend to the superstructure that supports it, he wouldn't have been using a motorway then! Much nicer B road alternatives to the motorway but he may need to up his navigation by sun and stars skilz...

 

Also interesting this story comes out at the same time as the announcement to do away with new petrol and diesel cars by 2040. Maybe he's just ahead of the game.

Avatar
JonD replied to psling | 6 years ago
5 likes
psling wrote:

Shame his beliefs regarding the motor vehicle don't extend to the superstructure that supports it, he wouldn't have been using a motorway then!

Well, they're paid for from general taxation so flippant or otherwise, that argument doesn't stand..

For that matter there are many Aroads which are motorways in all but name and have patchy cyclepath coverage over their length. Near me is the A3 in Surrey which obliterated some of a well-known cyclists route in the latter 1800s (or so) - parallel path on some parts but not all.

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psling replied to JonD | 6 years ago
1 like

JonD wrote:
psling wrote:

Shame his beliefs regarding the motor vehicle don't extend to the superstructure that supports it, he wouldn't have been using a motorway then!

Well, they're paid for from general taxation so flippant or otherwise, that argument doesn't stand..

I was making an assumption that his beliefs are more to do with the relentless march of  the motor vehicle in society rather than taxation.

Avatar
ConcordeCX replied to psling | 6 years ago
1 like

psling wrote:

Shame his beliefs regarding the motor vehicle don't extend to the superstructure that supports it, he wouldn't have been using a motorway then! Much nicer B road alternatives to the motorway but he may need to up his navigation by sun and stars skilz...

 

Also interesting this story comes out at the same time as the announcement to do away with new petrol and diesel cars by 2040. Maybe he's just ahead of the game.

He could do with some PR advice, but otherwise good on him!

Avatar
frogg replied to psling | 6 years ago
0 likes

psling wrote:

Also interesting this story comes out at the same time as the announcement to do away with new petrol and diesel cars by 2040. Maybe he's just ahead of the game.

These are still 2 tons of steel cars, moved by fossil fuel, except fuel is burnt elsewhere. Urban people just delocalize pollution, in the backcountry. Nice...And how charming is a windfarm in a lovely backcountry .

The most important is that urbanites can pretend to be ecologists !!! An e-Bentley for example.

Avatar
ConcordeCX replied to frogg | 6 years ago
3 likes

frogg wrote:

psling wrote:

Also interesting this story comes out at the same time as the announcement to do away with new petrol and diesel cars by 2040. Maybe he's just ahead of the game.

These are still 2 tons of steel cars, moved by fossil fuel, except fuel is burnt elsewhere. Urban people just delocalize pollution, in the backcountry. Nice...And how charming is a windfarm in a lovely backcountry .

The most important is that urbanites can pretend to be ecologists !!! An e-Bentley for example.

According to .gov.uk there were 35 million vehicles in the UK in 2013. The overwhelmingly majority of these are little generators churning out pollution. The number of them is likely to grow and unless we do something about the filth they spit out we're all going to suffer fairly horribly.

By moving the power generation to a very, very much smaller number of sites you can control it, for example by capturing and recycling or otherwise treating the pollution, and as we get better it will be easier to replace the dirty generators with clean ones, without having to replace tens of millions of cars.

An example of where this has already happened is the London Underground, which used to be powered by coal-fired power stations. Those same power stations are now gas-fired and much cleaner.

Eventually we'll get it all from clean power from Norway and Iceland but nobody will notice other than the children who aren't being poisoned and the old people not dropping dead all over the place.

Congestion's still a problem though, but I suspect people will stop owning cars when it's illegal for humans to drive them, and they're banned from city centres.

Avatar
urbane replied to ConcordeCX | 6 years ago
0 likes

ConcordeCX wrote:

frogg wrote:

psling wrote:

Also interesting this story comes out at the same time as the announcement to do away with new petrol and diesel cars by 2040. Maybe he's just ahead of the game.

These are still 2 tons of steel cars, moved by fossil fuel, except fuel is burnt elsewhere. Urban people just delocalize pollution, in the backcountry. Nice...And how charming is a windfarm in a lovely backcountry .

The most important is that urbanites can pretend to be ecologists !!! An e-Bentley for example.

According to .gov.uk there were 35 million vehicles in the UK in 2013. The overwhelmingly majority of these are little generators churning out pollution. The number of them is likely to grow and unless we do something about the filth they spit out we're all going to suffer fairly horribly.

By moving the power generation to a very, very much smaller number of sites you can control it, for example by capturing and recycling or otherwise treating the pollution, and as we get better it will be easier to replace the dirty generators with clean ones, without having to replace tens of millions of cars.

An example of where this has already happened is the London Underground, which used to be powered by coal-fired power stations. Those same power stations are now gas-fired and much cleaner.

Eventually we'll get it all from clean power from Norway and Iceland but nobody will notice other than the children who aren't being poisoned and the old people not dropping dead all over the place.

Congestion's still a problem though, but I suspect people will stop owning cars when it's illegal for humans to drive them, and they're banned from city centres.

AGW is frankly discredited now by years of still revealing fact faking (including long-term climate history) in the arguments for significant global warming and consequent warming effects, and CO2 sequestration is costly and dumb because that's what vegetation does!  This deception's real purpose is to wreck Captalism and freedom, to install global neo-feudal dictatorship and slavery, as revealed by some UN staff and other degenerate 'elites' own public words!

Solar, wind and wave power have already been documented by qualified people to not scale enough and not be reliable enough, and biofuel is an evil misuse of valuable agricultural land.

If the total end-to-end power losses, from fuel energy to the wheels, ends up greater than for an internal combustion engine, then it will be a huge, wasteful mistake to do more centalisation of power generation and the required massive transmission upgrades to the already stretched National Grid!

I very much doubt that more centralised power generation is sensible (including Coal and Uranium nuclear fission); it would probably be far better to decentralise power generation to reduce transmission/conversion power losses e.g. many factory prefrabicated, compact, pebble-bed, Thorium-salt, nuclear-fission reactor units, and to still use some (much higher power density) hydrocarbon fuels for where electric battery storage is inadequate for peak demand and longer distance road,  water, and air vehicle, travel.

Avatar
ConcordeCX replied to urbane | 6 years ago
1 like

urbane wrote:

ConcordeCX wrote:

frogg wrote:

psling wrote:

Also interesting this story comes out at the same time as the announcement to do away with new petrol and diesel cars by 2040. Maybe he's just ahead of the game.

These are still 2 tons of steel cars, moved by fossil fuel, except fuel is burnt elsewhere. Urban people just delocalize pollution, in the backcountry. Nice...And how charming is a windfarm in a lovely backcountry .

The most important is that urbanites can pretend to be ecologists !!! An e-Bentley for example.

According to .gov.uk there were 35 million vehicles in the UK in 2013. The overwhelmingly majority of these are little generators churning out pollution. The number of them is likely to grow and unless we do something about the filth they spit out we're all going to suffer fairly horribly.

By moving the power generation to a very, very much smaller number of sites you can control it, for example by capturing and recycling or otherwise treating the pollution, and as we get better it will be easier to replace the dirty generators with clean ones, without having to replace tens of millions of cars.

An example of where this has already happened is the London Underground, which used to be powered by coal-fired power stations. Those same power stations are now gas-fired and much cleaner.

Eventually we'll get it all from clean power from Norway and Iceland but nobody will notice other than the children who aren't being poisoned and the old people not dropping dead all over the place.

Congestion's still a problem though, but I suspect people will stop owning cars when it's illegal for humans to drive them, and they're banned from city centres.

AGW is frankly discredited now by years of still revealing fact faking (including long-term climate history) in the arguments for significant global warming and consequent warming effects, and CO2 sequestration is costly and dumb because that's what vegetation does!  This deception's real purpose is to wreck Captalism and freedom, to install global neo-feudal dictatorship and slavery, as revealed by some UN staff and other degenerate 'elites' own public words!

Solar, wind and wave power have already been documented by qualified people to not scale enough and not be reliable enough, and biofuel is an evil misuse of valuable agricultural land.

If the total end-to-end power losses, from fuel energy to the wheels, ends up greater than for an internal combustion engine, then it will be a huge, wasteful mistake to do more centalisation of power generation and the required massive transmission upgrades to the already stretched National Grid!

I very much doubt that more centralised power generation is sensible (including Coal and Uranium nuclear fission); it would probably be far better to decentralise power generation to reduce transmission/conversion power losses e.g. many factory prefrabicated, compact, pebble-bed, Thorium-salt, nuclear-fission reactor units, and to still use some (much higher power density) hydrocarbon fuels for where electric battery storage is inadequate for peak demand and longer distance road,  water, and air vehicle, travel.

all of that guff may or may not be true (probably isn't), but either way it's a non sequitur since I was talking about pollution that kills people because cars are blowing the stuff directly into children's lungs. Fuck all to do with global warming.

Avatar
FluffyKittenofT... replied to frogg | 6 years ago
2 likes
frogg wrote:

psling wrote:

Also interesting this story comes out at the same time as the announcement to do away with new petrol and diesel cars by 2040. Maybe he's just ahead of the game.

These are still 2 tons of steel cars, moved by fossil fuel, except fuel is burnt elsewhere. Urban people just delocalize pollution, in the backcountry. Nice...And how charming is a windfarm in a lovely backcountry .

The most important is that urbanites can pretend to be ecologists !!! An e-Bentley for example.

No, the important thing is that I won't cough and choke so much when walking and cycling around, and maybe the general health of everyone around me might improve a bit.

I don't deny that it doesn't solve all the other problems (and paradoxically might make it harder to fix them by removing one downside to car travel), but for me it will be an improvement, and nothing to do with 'pretending to be ecologists'.

As for 'delocalising pollution' - well I could say its about time the rest of you had to breath in the crap - I've had to do it my entire life! It's your turn (and what kind of logic says its better to produce the pollution in the areas where almost everyone lives, rather than the areas where hardly anyone lives?)

Avatar
Grahamd | 6 years ago
12 likes

One of lifes characters.

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