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Video: Man pushes female cyclist into traffic in East London – police appeal for witnesses

Woman said to have been very upset but did not require medical treatment

Police have released footage of the moment when a man shoved a female cyclist off her bike and into the road in Tower Hamlets. The incident, captured by the woman’s helmet cam, took place on Sidney Street, off Whitechapel Road, shortly after 6pm on Friday May 1.

As the woman turned onto Sidney Street, she passed a man who was crossing the road. “Please don’t try and knock me off,” she said.

The man swore at her and chased her down the street and as she slowed down near a junction, the man approached her again. “You want to put your finger up at me, you mug?” he shouted and then pushed her off her bike into the path of passing traffic.

The woman, who is in her early 40s, managed to get both herself and her bike out of the road to safety, out of the way of moving traffic. While she was said to have been very upset following the assault, she did not require medical treatment.

Paul Kitson from CTC, the national cycling charity and a Solicitor with Slater + Gordon, said: "When a pedestrian deliberately pushes a cyclist off a bike this is a criminal act. The appropriate offence depends upon the extent of the injury." According to CTC, the offence could be considered common assault, actual bodily harm or grievous bodily harm.

Police believe the man be in his 40s and he was wearing dark clothing. Anyone who can identify him is asked to get in contact on 101 quoting images 180410, or by calling Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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53 comments

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usedtobefaster | 9 years ago
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Utterly contemptible behaviour, but why did she say anything to him about trying to knock her off in the first place?

The video clearly shows him crossing the road in the midst of slow moving traffic (who here hasn't done that) and he's looking right at her and adjusts his pace to end up walking behind her.

I think it's irrelevant that she was a cyclist he's just a nasty piece of work that likes a bit of agro with anyone that he deems is getting in his life.

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Jonny_Trousers | 9 years ago
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Jesus, what a big man! Attacking a woman because she stuck her finger up at him. Sigh*

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seyghal | 9 years ago
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A strange one. Why would she say to a pedestrian "Please don’t try and knock me off"? Must be more to the story as why would he also mention being sworn at?

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ron611087 | 9 years ago
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The guy's mugshot is currently in prime position on the Guardian and Telegraph websites, possibly others too. It will be interesting to see if or for how long he maintains anonymity.

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bikebot replied to ron611087 | 9 years ago
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ron611087 wrote:

The guy's mugshot is currently in prime position on the Guardian and Telegraph websites, possibly others too. It will be interesting to see if or for how long he maintains anonymity.

Plus the Daily Mail, and they've left the comments on  24

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earth | 9 years ago
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If a person is crossing a road when a vehicle is turning onto that road, doesn't the vehicle have to give way to the pedestrian?

Pushing someone off their bike in revenge is not the solution however.

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oldstrath replied to earth | 9 years ago
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earth wrote:

If a person is crossing a road when a vehicle is turning onto that road, doesn't the vehicle have to give way to the pedestrian?

Pushing someone off their bike in revenge is not the solution however.

Good luck with enforcing that one on cars.

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Dnnnnnn replied to oldstrath | 9 years ago
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oldstrath wrote:
earth wrote:

If a person is crossing a road when a vehicle is turning onto that road, doesn't the vehicle have to give way to the pedestrian?

Pushing someone off their bike in revenge is not the solution however.

Good luck with enforcing that one on cars.

Highway Code rule 170 says drivers *should* give way to pedestrians already crossing a road into which they want to turn. Not many people seem to know this one. And it's a "should", not a "must"

In this case it seemed to be a straight ahead road, and we can't see what's following behind the cyclist. But regardless, nothing excuses what he did.

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earth replied to Dnnnnnn | 9 years ago
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Duncann wrote:
oldstrath wrote:
earth wrote:

If a person is crossing a road when a vehicle is turning onto that road, doesn't the vehicle have to give way to the pedestrian?

Pushing someone off their bike in revenge is not the solution however.

Good luck with enforcing that one on cars.

Highway Code rule 170 says drivers *should* give way to pedestrians already crossing a road into which they want to turn. Not many people seem to know this one. And it's a "should", not a "must"

In this case it seemed to be a straight ahead road, and we can't see what's following behind the cyclist. But regardless, nothing excuses what he did.

I've interpreted the article a bit differently it seems. I can't watch the video either because it's blocked so I've only go the article to go on. It starts by saying the women turned onto a road and passed a pedestrian who was crossing. That does not say to me that he was further down the road and jaywalking but perhaps he was well down the road and did step out into her path. But it also alludes that she gave him the finger.

I agree he still shouldn't have pushed her off.

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ron611087 replied to earth | 9 years ago
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earth wrote:

If a person is crossing a road when a vehicle is turning onto that road, doesn't the vehicle have to give way to the pedestrian?

Pushing someone off their bike in revenge is not the solution however.

If a pedestrian begins to cross the road when the road is clear and then a vehicle appears, the pedestrian has priority.

To me that doesn't look like that situation applies in this instance. He took to the road in moving traffic, of which she was part, so she should have priority. He put himself at risk with moving cars, but his crossing also put her at risk. What happened after was assault. All road users have a duty of care, including pedestrians.

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dee4life2005 replied to earth | 9 years ago
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I think that only applies to "motor vehicles", but in any case she wasn't turning into the road ... it was a straight road and he was just jaywalking (to use an american term) so he was in the wrong. This guy is a cowardly piece of work, and I hope the police catch him and he gets done for assault. Hopefully it's not the first time he's had a run in with the law and he gets some jail-time - I suspect though because it's a cyclist he may just get a warning. sad, but probably true.

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mrmo replied to earth | 9 years ago
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earth wrote:

If a person is crossing a road when a vehicle is turning onto that road, doesn't the vehicle have to give way to the pedestrian?

Yes, mind you how many drivers, and by extension people in general a)know b)want to try and force the vehicle to give way.

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earth replied to mrmo | 9 years ago
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mrmo wrote:
earth wrote:

If a person is crossing a road when a vehicle is turning onto that road, doesn't the vehicle have to give way to the pedestrian?

Yes, mind you how many drivers, and by extension people in general a)know b)want to try and force the vehicle to give way.

I certainly don't risk it when I'm crossing the road at a t-junction for instance but that just means pedestrians are bullied into submission and that's the same mentality that bullies cyclists into submission.

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vonhelmet | 9 years ago
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No, it's not attempted murder unless he was attempting to murder her, which it seems he wasn't. It's assault, probably nothing more.

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oldstrath replied to vonhelmet | 9 years ago
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vonhelmet wrote:

No, it's not attempted murder unless he was attempting to murder her, which it seems he wasn't. It's assault, probably nothing more.

I still don't understand this obsession the law has with 'intent'. Neither you, nor I, nor anyone else can possibly know what was in this character's mind at the time he pushed her. All we can know he that he pushed her into a traffic flow, which has the potential to kill her. Why not judge actions, instead of guessing intents?

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RedfishUK replied to oldstrath | 9 years ago
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oldstrath wrote:

All we can know he that he pushed her into a traffic flow, which has the potential to kill her. Why not judge actions, instead of guessing intents?

Because the law only takes into account what actually happened and not any potential outcomes.

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oldstrath replied to RedfishUK | 9 years ago
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RedfishUK wrote:
oldstrath wrote:

All we can know he that he pushed her into a traffic flow, which has the potential to kill her. Why not judge actions, instead of guessing intents?

Because the law only takes into account what actually happened and not any potential outcomes.

What von Helmet wrote above was 'it seems he wasn't trying to murder her'. That seems awfully like trying to judge someone's intent to me.

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oozaveared replied to oldstrath | 9 years ago
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oldstrath wrote:
vonhelmet wrote:

No, it's not attempted murder unless he was attempting to murder her, which it seems he wasn't. It's assault, probably nothing more.

I still don't understand this obsession the law has with 'intent'. Neither you, nor I, nor anyone else can possibly know what was in this character's mind at the time he pushed her. All we can know he that he pushed her into a traffic flow, which has the potential to kill her. Why not judge actions, instead of guessing intents?

The "obsession" with intent is because that's what defines the distinction between a serious assault and attempted murder. To bring a case and try to prove that this man attempted to murder this woman you would have to show that by his actions he intended actually to kill her. It's not enough to show that he assaulted her in a way that might have killed her. Any punch might kill someone but not every assault is attempted murder. Funnily enough murder is easier to define. If he had deliberately pushed her into the traffic and she was killed he would be up for murder whether or not he intended to kill her. But for the charge of attempted murder you would have to demonstrate that he fully intended to kill her and just failed.

The offence here was common assault. Bad enough.

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ironmancole | 9 years ago
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Traffic kills...therefore to push someone deliberately into it's path is surely attempted murder? Course it won't be though...it's a cyclist so she should expect to be treated like this and if she hadn't been wearing a helmet well, practically brings it on herself.

Oh I wish I wasn't kidding  2

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Simmo72 | 9 years ago
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40? I think they are confused between his age and IQ. What a piece of scum. To push anyone off a bike into the road is sick. To push a woman, I can't comprehend what twisted little mind he has.

I hope he is caught and nailed to the wall.

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pauljwoolgar | 9 years ago
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He looks much younger to me than 40+.

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Metaphor | 9 years ago
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Why is this only coming to light about 4 months after the incident?

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KiwiMike replied to Metaphor | 9 years ago
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 41

Ramuz wrote:

Why is this only coming to light about 4 months after the incident?

Exactly. I'm guessing because the woman threatened to go Full Social Media on the Met for lack of action?

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