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“The clown on the bike doesn't hurt anyone” says Jeremy Vine about wheelie cyclist branded a ‘bike yob’ by newspapers

Sussex Police make two arrests in connection with supermarket footage published by the same boy

In yesterday’s live blog, we reported how a number of newspaper websites recently published a video of a young cyclist doing wheelies through London who was involved in a collision and angry confrontation with a Mercedes driver. The boy’s antics saw him branded a ‘yob’ but broadcaster Jeremy Vine took to Twitter to draw attention to the threat the “clown” posed relative to one behind the wheel of a car.

Last week footage of a group of youths cycling through a Brighton Asda was published by a number of national newspaper websites with the coverage resulting in a police appeal for victims.

The video has since been deleted and the uploader, Wheelie Kay, has posted an apology.

However, those same newspapers appear to have been trawling back through Wheelie Kay’s YouTube channel with the video of the collision with the Mercedes driver dating back to July.

Vine tweeted a snippet of the video on Thursday night.

Vine added: “Had he behaved like that at the wheel of a car the outcome would have been 500 times worse.”

According to The Mail, Vine “sparked fury after showing support for a biker yob who blamed a driver after he collided with a car when he pulled a wheelie on a main road.”

The Times says Vine has “angered motorists after defending a cyclist who filmed himself crashing into a car while performing a wheelie.”

Vine later responded to the Mail story.

Brighton and Hove News reports that Sussex Police have announced two arrests in connection with the now-deleted Brighton Asda video, the full version of which also showed the group riding around elsewhere in the town.

A spokesperson said “Brighton and Hove police have made two arrests in their investigation into anti-social behaviour involving a number of youths on bikes at a Brighton supermarket.

“Police responded to a report of threats made by youths at Asda, at Brighton Marina, on the afternoon of (Sunday) 23 June.

“On Friday morning (16 August) officers from Brighton went to an address in Greenwich, south east London, and arrested a 19-year-old man and a 12-year-old boy.

“Both were arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm. The 19-year old was also arrested on suspicion of threatening behaviour and dangerous cycling.

“They are currently in custody in Brighton for interview and further inquiries.

“The arrests for grievous bodily harm relate to an incident in Madeira Drive in which a passer-by fell and sustained a broken wrist and a broken rib in a confrontation with youths from the group.”

Superintendent Julia Pope said the force hoped to make further arrests.

“We have made it very clear that we will not tolerate this type of behaviour.

“We have been working tirelessly to track down this group, with the assistance of the Metropolitan Police. Our investigation is continuing and we hope to make further arrests.

“We are keen to encourage any victims or witnesses who may have been in the area of the Asda store at Brighton Marina at around 4.30pm on (Sunday) 23 June to contact us.

“If you can assist in our investigation in any way, please report it online or call 101, quoting serial 924 of 23/06.

“Local policing teams continue to regularly patrol the Marina area and work closely with the local business community.”

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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28 comments

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OnYerBike | 4 years ago
0 likes

My interpretation of the video: prior to the collision, I can't see that the driver did anything to deliberately make the situation worse. Yes he's quite close to the left-hand edge of the lane, but I'm not convinced that's a deliberate act to shut out the cyclist. It is even possible that the driver is giving space to the other cyclists who passed on the right. It's quite possible that at this point the driver hasn't even realised the cyclist is there - the cyclist is in the driver's blind spot immediately prior to the collision. I therefore think that the collision itself is all the cyclist's fault. If the car appears to move slightly towards the left in the fractions of a second before the collision, this appears to be just be an effect of the wide-angle lens - looking at the lane markings it appears the car is going pretty much straight.

However, after the collision when the cyclist starts banging on the bonnet, the driver definitely steers towards the left. You can clearly see the wheels have turned left and the car stops with its bonnet almost under the lorry. Whether this was a deliberate attempt to ram the cyclist into the lorry, or simply an involuntary movement due to being suprised/distracted by the collision is hard to say. Obviously if the former then this is pretty horrific - no matter how stupid or annoying the cyclist is, using a car to ram him into a lorry is not ok. 

So I guess JV's (poorly expressed) point is that yes the cyclist was stupid and reckless, but if anyone was going to be seriously injured or killed in this video then it would be the cyclist because of the driver steering into him (deliberately or otherwise). The worst likely to happen to the driver is a few scratches on his car.

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FluffyKittenofT... | 4 years ago
2 likes

OK I watched (part of) it expecting and wanting to feel sympathetic to the kid, but, nah, I can't help but conclude he's an annoying little scrote.  Sooner-or-later, one way or another, that was going to end badly.  To my great surprise JV is more of a cycling-partisan than I am.

 

  Only thing I can say in the kid's favour is he did his show-off twattery in the road among motorised vehicles and thus endangered himself not pedestrians.

 

True, even with kids being idiots, motorists aren't excused the obligation to look around them and take care.  But the thing is, if we had good safe intrastructure, he would doubtless be acting like an idiot among pedestrians and/or fellow cyclists, so his twattery would still be an issue.

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Griff500 replied to FluffyKittenofTindalos | 4 years ago
3 likes
FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:

OK I watched (part of) it expecting and wanting to feel sympathetic to the kid, but, nah, I can't help but conclude he's an annoying little scrote.  Sooner-or-later, one way or another, that was going to end badly.  To my great surprise JV is more of a cycling-partisan than I am.

 

  Only thing I can say in the kid's favour is he did his show-off twattery in the road among motorised vehicles and thus endangered himself not pedestrians.

 

True, even with kids being idiots, motorists aren't excused the obligation to look around them and take care.  But the thing is, if we had good safe intrastructure, he would doubtless be acting like an idiot among pedestrians and/or fellow cyclists, so his twattery would still be an issue.

Sad to say, I watched all of it, and even googled for more! You mention th epossibility of him "acting like an idiot among pedestrians" and yes , sure enough, one of the clips I found shows him going through a pedestrian crossing, with a shriek coming from one crosser as she leapt out of the way, others of him scattering pedestrians as he takes to the pavement, plus of course all the shots of him cycling against oncoming traffic on the right side of traffic islands, through barely-there gaps, and so it goes on. He also has previous with the police ("a hot officer was impressed by my riding..."), and of course the incident in the supermarket came after the Merc incident, so he is clearly learning nothing. I note also that he is hailed on social media as a "social influencer". Annoying little scrote sums it up nicely for me.

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brooksby replied to FluffyKittenofTindalos | 4 years ago
1 like
FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:

OK I watched (part of) it expecting and wanting to feel sympathetic to the kid, but, nah, I can't help but conclude he's an annoying little scrote.  Sooner-or-later, one way or another, that was going to end badly.

I agree. Only got around to watching it today. Did the wheelying kid not look before changing lanes or did he just assume that the car would give way (not a safe assumption to make, as any fule kno)? Better to ride with both wheels on the tarmac, IMO, and look before overtaking.

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Mungecrundle | 4 years ago
0 likes

Wouldn't want to be in his shoes when his Mum sees that video.

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HoarseMann | 4 years ago
4 likes

I think that stupid kid owes his life to the lorry drivers actions. Looking at the vid again, the lorry comes to a complete halt when he realises there are idiots on bikes swerving all around him. I can’t see any traffic in front of the lorry that caused it to brake. If the lorry had been moving when the Merc swerved in, it could have been a different story. Thank goodness there was someone paying attention and acting sensibly, kudos to the lorry driver.

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Jem PT | 4 years ago
5 likes

Shock, horror! Kid does stupid thing. That’s what kids do.

I see nothing wrong in what J V tweeted. 

 

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CXR94Di2 | 4 years ago
5 likes

The movement in his lane could of been that other knob head riders were to his right and in front. The driver didn't actively close the gap-that wasnt even there for the wheelie dick head to get through.

These young lads need to take their antics off road onto a BMX track, instead of putting themselves at risk on London's roads

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HoarseMann replied to CXR94Di2 | 4 years ago
3 likes
CXR94Di2 wrote:

The movement in his lane could of been that other knob head riders were to his right and in front. The driver didn't actively close the gap-that wasnt even there for the wheelie dick head to get through. These young lads need to take their antics off road onto a BMX track, instead of putting themselves at risk on London's roads

I initially thought that, but watching it again, the other riders are well ahead by then. Looks totally deliberate to me - look how quickly he swerved into the rider when he thumped the bonnet.

If I was driving along and heard a massive thump on the left, I would slam the brakes on and either keep a straight line or move away from the lorry I was so close to. No way would you swerve toward the noise/lorry, unless you knew exactly what to expect.

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OldRidgeback replied to CXR94Di2 | 4 years ago
1 like
CXR94Di2 wrote:

The movement in his lane could of been that other knob head riders were to his right and in front. The driver didn't actively close the gap-that wasnt even there for the wheelie dick head to get through. These young lads need to take their antics off road onto a BMX track, instead of putting themselves at risk on London's roads

He's quite a skilled rider as I said. He's not bad on a bMX track. I expect he'd be ok on a downhill MTB track too. Lad like him need to be engaged by sports. That's what we try to do with our BMX club. It can make a difference to someone's life to get them away from gang activity and into sport.

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Rick_Rude | 4 years ago
2 likes

I wonder if Vine would appreciate it if I wheelied past him on my motorbike? If I didn't hurt him it would be ok? 

Are we saying if you're skillful enough you can do what you want? My mate is pretty good at drifting cars and would never hurt anybody. Surely he can wang it around the local roundabout without fear of the police doing anything?

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FluffyKittenofT... replied to Rick_Rude | 4 years ago
3 likes
Rick_Rude wrote:

I wonder if Vine would appreciate it if I wheelied past him on my motorbike? If I didn't hurt him it would be ok? 

Are we saying if you're skillful enough you can do what you want? My mate is pretty good at drifting cars and would never hurt anybody. Surely he can wang it around the local roundabout without fear of the police doing anything?

 

Have to say I've seen motorcyclists doing wheelies fairly often.  In fact, I rarely see motorcyclists riding in a considerate or fully-legal fashion.  They are _always_ speeding, not-rarely doing wheelies, and above all always making a godawful racket.  I was going to add 'riding on footpaths expecting peds to jump out of their way', but then realised that's mopeds rather than motorbikes.

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brooksby replied to FluffyKittenofTindalos | 4 years ago
1 like
FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:
Rick_Rude wrote:

I wonder if Vine would appreciate it if I wheelied past him on my motorbike? If I didn't hurt him it would be ok? 

Are we saying if you're skillful enough you can do what you want? My mate is pretty good at drifting cars and would never hurt anybody. Surely he can wang it around the local roundabout without fear of the police doing anything?

 

Have to say I've seen motorcyclists doing wheelies fairly often.  In fact, I rarely see motorcyclists riding in a considerate or fully-legal fashion.  They are _always_ speeding, not-rarely doing wheelies, and above all always making a godawful racket.  I was going to add 'riding on footpaths expecting peds to jump out of their way', but then realised that's mopeds rather than motorbikes.

Don't forget the mopeds and motorcycles which use cycle lanes at speed regardless of whether there are bicycles already using it.

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Podc replied to Rick_Rude | 4 years ago
4 likes
Rick_Rude wrote:

I wonder if Vine would appreciate it if I wheelied past him on my motorbike? If I didn't hurt him it would be ok? 

Are we saying if you're skillful enough you can do what you want? My mate is pretty good at drifting cars and would never hurt anybody. Surely he can wang it around the local roundabout without fear of the police doing anything?

I think this is like saying that if a child is using a nerf gun, can I get the. 303 out?

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ktache | 4 years ago
4 likes

Nah, they will probably make it until they learn to drive.  Then they will drive around like everyone else, I know that cyclists make better drivers, but how many times do you hear "I know, I'm a cyclist..."

They will speed, use a phone, drive tired, think about other stuff, maybe a drink or two.

5 people will be killed on our roads today, by motorists.

0.0055 pedestrians will be killd by cyclists.

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Judge dreadful | 4 years ago
1 like

Natural selection will take care of both of these idiots.

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burtthebike | 4 years ago
8 likes

GBH?  Unless they actually knocked the person over, that's going to be hard to prove isn't it?

Meanwhile, drivers can deliberately knock you off and seriously injure you and not be charged with GBH, only motoring offences.  I'm totally confident that the cyclists' GBH charge will be dropped and a cycling one inserted, furious cycling perhaps?

 Or, if you viciously assault people on behalf of toffs on horses and can get a minor royal to speak up for you in court, you get a severely slapped wrist, even when the assault was premeditated and you refuse to identify the rest of your gang.  https://www.thecanary.co/discovery/news-discovery/2018/06/15/two-men-rec...

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OldRidgeback | 4 years ago
10 likes

I've actually met the lad who shot these video clips. Me and my youngest were at a pump track with our BMXs last year I think when this lad turned up on his MTB. He seemed a decent enough lad, not one of the gang thugs we have round our way. He was shooting some clips at the track. I might even be in one of them. His riding skills were pretty decent. And I seem to remember letting him have a shot of my BMX.

It was my youngest who pointed out that we'd met the lad.

I feel sorry for him to be honest. He's done something really stupid and will now have a criminal record as a result.

As for the incident with the Merc, I don't think it was the driver's fault to be honest. The lad was going for a gap that wasn't really there.

If the lad had kept his tricks to the skateparks, pump tracks and BMX tracks (I note he was at the Hornfair Park track which I know very well) then it'd be better for everyone.

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Seventyone | 4 years ago
9 likes

Gbh for making someone fall over, but not for actually ramming someone off their bike with your car? Seems like a slight unfairness....

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Organon | 4 years ago
3 likes

Vine should know better than to comment. He is quite right, idiots in control of cars are far more likely to injure, however by commenting (or not carefully phrasing his comment) he allows others to conflate all cyclists with this young mans behaviour. Young idiots on bikes are NOT the same as adults commuting. We need to discourage this 'well they are all the same' attitude.

The Merc does seem to edge in though, perhaps he isn't aware or is defensively driving but the um, unicyclist still goes for the gap.

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bikeman01 replied to Organon | 4 years ago
5 likes
Organon wrote:

The Merc does seem to edge in though, perhaps he isn't aware or is defensively driving but the um, unicyclist still goes for the gap.

You need to watch it again with your glasses on.  The merc doesn't move in, the lad moves out to pass the lorry, determined to keep his wheelie going and he hits the car. The merc having been hit then moves in to block his path.

If it had been me I would have closed the gap completely and forced the little shit to ride into the back of the HGV.

Notice also how they all argue to distract and then disperse once the bike is free. One even tries to pull the car's bonnet badge off.

Their parents don't give a shit about them and neither do I.

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ConcordeCX replied to bikeman01 | 4 years ago
3 likes
bikeman01 wrote:
Organon wrote:

The Merc does seem to edge in though, perhaps he isn't aware or is defensively driving but the um, unicyclist still goes for the gap.

You need to watch it again with your glasses on.  The merc doesn't move in, the lad moves out to pass the lorry, determined to keep his wheelie going and he hits the car. The merc having been hit then moves in to block his path.

If it had been me I would have closed the gap completely and forced the little shit to ride into the back of the HGV.

Notice also how they all argue to distract and then disperse once the bike is free. One even tries to pull the car's bonnet badge off.

Their parents don't give a shit about them and neither do I.

you'll be pleased to know that our prisons have special-category cell-blocks for people like you.

 

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Organon replied to bikeman01 | 4 years ago
1 like
bikeman01 wrote:
Organon wrote:

The Merc does seem to edge in though, perhaps he isn't aware or is defensively driving but the um, unicyclist still goes for the gap.

You need to watch it again with your glasses on.  The merc doesn't move in, the lad moves out to pass the lorry, determined to keep his wheelie going and he hits the car. The merc having been hit then moves in to block his path.

If it had been me I would have closed the gap completely and forced the little shit to ride into the back of the HGV.

Notice also how they all argue to distract and then disperse once the bike is free. One even tries to pull the car's bonnet badge off.

Their parents don't give a shit about them and neither do I.

My vision is fine, rewatch the clip youself and see where the Merc's front wheel goes. He does close down a bit, probably thinking the 'cyclist' wouldn't be se stupid as to think there was a gap. This kid is lucky he didn't get a limb ripped off.

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John Smith replied to Organon | 4 years ago
4 likes
Organon wrote:
bikeman01 wrote:
Organon wrote:

The Merc does seem to edge in though, perhaps he isn't aware or is defensively driving but the um, unicyclist still goes for the gap.

You need to watch it again with your glasses on.  The merc doesn't move in, the lad moves out to pass the lorry, determined to keep his wheelie going and he hits the car. The merc having been hit then moves in to block his path.

If it had been me I would have closed the gap completely and forced the little shit to ride into the back of the HGV.

Notice also how they all argue to distract and then disperse once the bike is free. One even tries to pull the car's bonnet badge off.

Their parents don't give a shit about them and neither do I.

My vision is fine, rewatch the clip youself and see where the Merc's front wheel goes. He does close down a bit, probably thinking the 'cyclist' wouldn't be se stupid as to think there was a gap. This kid is lucky he didn't get a limb ripped off.

 

Don’t be ridiculous. The Merc kept a reasonable straight line, in the lane, at a consistent speed. Perhaps with a little more defensive driving he possibly could have avoided it, but just the same as when a car makes a fully predictable but illegal  turn across a cyclist only one person is at fault here. The kid was doing something totally stupid, went for a gap that didn’t exist, wasn’t in control of his bike and was lucky it wasn’t much worse.

 

It’s nonsense comparing the Merc driver, who was an innocent party, to some kids who attacked someone, and for the CPS to be going for GBH, rather than ABH or assault, there must have been something serious.

 

burtthebike wrote:

GBH?  Unless they actually knocked the person over, that's going to be hard to prove isn't it?

Meanwhile, drivers can deliberately knock you off and seriously injure you and not be charged with GBH, only motoring offences.  I'm totally confident that the cyclists' GBH charge will be dropped and a cycling one inserted, furious cycling perhaps?

If you reread it you will see that the GBH charge isn’t related to knocking someone over whilst cycling. It’s related to a “confontation”. Which presumably turned violent.

In some people’s minds it seams anyone on a bike can do no wrong.

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HoarseMann replied to Organon | 4 years ago
3 likes
Organon wrote:
bikeman01 wrote:
Organon wrote:

The Merc does seem to edge in though, perhaps he isn't aware or is defensively driving but the um, unicyclist still goes for the gap.

You need to watch it again with your glasses on.  The merc doesn't move in, the lad moves out to pass the lorry, determined to keep his wheelie going and he hits the car. The merc having been hit then moves in to block his path.

If it had been me I would have closed the gap completely and forced the little shit to ride into the back of the HGV.

Notice also how they all argue to distract and then disperse once the bike is free. One even tries to pull the car's bonnet badge off.

Their parents don't give a shit about them and neither do I.

My vision is fine, rewatch the clip youself and see where the Merc's front wheel goes. He does close down a bit, probably thinking the 'cyclist' wouldn't be se stupid as to think there was a gap. This kid is lucky he didn't get a limb ripped off.

Yep agree with you, the Merc driver knew exactly what he was doing. Drifts to the left of his lane, matches the speed of the bike to block him in, makes sure there is no gap for the bike. When the kid thumps the bonnet, driver violently swerved into the rider, trying to knock him under the lorry. Total red mist moment.

Not excusing the rider, but the actions of this driver made it a whole load worse than it could have been.

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earth replied to bikeman01 | 4 years ago
0 likes
bikeman01 wrote:

Their parents don't give a shit about them and neither do I.

 

This is the problem.  While I don't want to find excusses for this I still I think it has to be said that the cost of living and debt is so high now that it is likely their parent(s) are too busy with work commitments to bring up their kids.  If that's not the case and their parents are simply irresponsible then it's the parents fault.

 

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Griff500 replied to earth | 4 years ago
0 likes
earth wrote:
bikeman01 wrote:

Their parents don't give a shit about them and neither do I.

 

This is the problem.  While I don't want to find excusses for this I still I think it has to be said that the cost of living and debt is so high now that it is likely their parent(s) are too busy with work commitments to bring up their kids.  If that's not the case and their parents are simply irresponsible then it's the parents fault.

 

So if you take a look at the videos more closely you will notice he regularly changes bikes, and is always dressed in nice clean designer gear. Little sign of poverty.

Your suggestion that because he is a yob, it is likely that he comes from a background of poverty, is worthy of Rees-Mogg. Surprised you didn't mention the colour of his skin.

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CXR94Di2 | 4 years ago
2 likes

What a numpty lad, now, will have a criminal record for supermarket and reckless riding incidents.

 

Life of drugs, knives and early death coming his way

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