Updated: Violent assault on London cyclist captured on film

Corruption at the highest levels. The assailant must be a Met police officer. What has happened to British society?

I reported a far less serious incident to the Met and was similarly able to give the number plate. The Police immediately started speculating about whether the registered owner was driving that day, maybe the car had been hired out, maybe it had been "borrowed" by someone etc etc. One has to wonder if they would have the same concerns if it had been a police officer assaulted.

Please find this man! One of the very same reasons I wear a helmet cam. Hope the cyclist is ok.

Upsetting to watch. Inconceivable that these thugs can't be found.

It has been proven over and over again that the Metropolitan Police cannot be relied on. Or not that many of the police forces in this country. Last month a woman and her daughter were murdered by the woman's ex partner, who had been reported to the cops a zillion times, not only by her, but by her neighbours. Now she's dead, and her 2 year old daughter. And her 10 year old was left an orphan and traumatized for ever b/c she witnessed it all. And now there is an inquiry, another f***ing waste of time and money that will be another whitewash to cover up the police's "don't give a fuck" attitude. Now they'll wait for these thugs to kill a cyclist with their car, and then our joke of justice system will let them off with a fine and a community service and a driving ban of a couple of weeks!!!

All I could think while watching this video is "burn the car with the c**ts inside!

I'm sure there is a way to find out where the car owner lives. Do you know any News of the World "journalists"?

Being from Canada I'm not surprised, the Met is known internationally to rank along with the New O'rleans force and the LAPD as one of the worlds most corrupt forces.

And his name is John? Sounds like it "John, leave off" ...

This is in Bexley Village - outside Ferraris brasserie at the junction of Bexley High Street and Hurst Road.

Have posted this here http://853blog.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/violent-attack-on-cyclist-in-bex...

and http://forum.charltonlife.com/discussion/42013/attack-on-cyclist-in-bexl... (a lot of Charlton fans in that area)

Good luck tracking this idiot down.

Utterly disgraceful and horrible to watch. For what it's worth I've sent the links to the video, and the original forum account to the local papers - I'm from Bexleyheath and as darryl1974 pointed out this is in Bexley Village. May not lead to much but the more places this idiot's face gets posted the higher the chance someone might develop a conscience and say who he is

Interesting - note that the Bexley area is known for its high percentage of locals with links to far right groups and whose members wear white shirts and have short haircuts and are not unused to using their fists. it does rather defy logic that the police are unable to identify the perpetrators of this assault given that the vehicle's registration plate is clearly identified. If the owner of the vehicle cannot supply an adequate reason why he/she cannot identify who was driving that day then perhaps he/she should be reminded that allowing someone without insurance to use a vehicle is an offence. Basically the cops should say to the owner, "Tell us who it was or we'll give you six points on your licence and a fine for the vehicle offence."

It's simple policing, not rocket science.

I don't live far away. I'll take note of that registration number.

I'm an ex-local, used to cycle round here a lot. SE London does have its share of knuckle-draggers, sadly. The BNP used to have its HQ not far away in Welling. Not too far from Eltham, either, where Stephen Lawrence was killed and we know how well the Met came out of that sad episode.

It doesn't sound like they tried too hard to see who *was* driving the car. Fingerprinting the steering wheel might show whether anyone other than the registered keeper was driving it. His mobile phone records might show where he was. Not that I'm trying to do their job for them.

Anyone seeing this video is going to be horrified, but don't start blaming this on the fact it happened in Bexley! Like gazzaputt I'd like to point out that Bexley is actually one of the safest boroughs in London - the crime rates elsewhere in the capital are on the most part higher - generally and for violence - and the days of the BNP (who, as pointed out were in Welling) are long gone. The BNP HQ was shut down in 1995.

This is a nasty incident, pure and simple, but one that could have occured easily anywhere in London - or outside. There are racists everywhere. Bexley is not "known for its high percentage of locals with links to far right groups" even if the idiots in this video look like that...

Why don't you just offer the Police a tenner for the guys name and address, say you are from the News Of The World, that should swing it for you...

Well if the law can't trace the driver I hope that the car gets traced and would not be surprised if it gets trashed !!! Who believes in Karma ?

To be fair there are pricks like this all over the place, with their 'look at how tough iam attitude'. It does'nt matter to me who they are or where they're from, bottom line is police need to deal with the likes of him before they end up killing someone with their complete disregard for human life.

I sent this via Twitter to Ross Lydall of the Evening Standard and to Dave Hill of The Guardian.

according to a registration website I looked at, the car was originally registered in Luton. This may of course just happen to be where the car was purchased.

Just one more point. Surely the owner's excuse should be challenged by the police. Detective "we don't believe you. Unless you tell us who was driving your car that day, we will charge you with attempting to pervert the course of justice. Alternatively, you can save yourself a lot of hassle by just telling us who the two men in the video are. The choice is yours."

It's doing the rounds on the interwebulator - LCC has sent it on to its several thousand Twitter followers, there's a link on LFGSS, and more

be a bit embarrassing for the law if the forces of social networking caught the thug when they couldn't be bothered

@Fluffy, excellent news, excellent news.

As a serving Police Officer in Northern Ireland, I have never heard such Bull. If a Police officer here didnt investigate this they would find themselves infront of the Police Ombudsman very quickly!!!! How much evidence do they need? This is Bread & Butter policing.

I'm not sure the police would investigate anything to do with cycling even if the offender left his name, address, phone number and DNA sample at the scene,

How come the police have the powers to charge people with withholding information if their car is caught speeding and the driver says it was not them

I would use the same law against the owner of this car, he/she is clearly withholding information because no-one steals a car and returns it, i can almost guarantee they are withholding the details because its a mate

I ride through the village most days so I'll keep an eye out for this car.
Surely the vehicle owners story is rubbish and the Police could do more if they wanted to?

Mm watched this quite a few time. The woman in the black dress with the white prints on seems to come from the back to the front and be very helpful with the reg etc. I think she may know of these "people" from the past.. If you have her contact details, may well be worth asking if she knows any more..

Thugs!! Probably been down the pub and tanked up on booze.

Not uncommon to get abuse when out riding. Friend has been threatened, but never punches thrown. Only a matter of time though I suspect, unfortunately!

Something needs to be done to change this apalling attitude of drivers towards cyclists and pedestrians.

Hope these guys are ok.

how is it for other vehicle related prosecution |(ie speeding, jump lights etc) the onus is on the vehicle owner to provide driver details - and if they dont -or cant - they can be hit with MS90 (failure to provide driver details)?
double standards - for a simple piece of revenue generation they follow letter of the law - for a real crime .......they cant be arsed!

4 weeks after doing a Wiggo, on my bike for 1st time me and a mate got taken out by a Merc,broken ribs etc luckily collarb ok. Guy drove of, luckily taxi driver chased him and reported to the police that it was a 19 year old kid and that he had threatenend the taxidriver when he got to his house.
Best bit is he told police "its my dads car, i stole it (no insurance there then!) i did it and drove of" and guess what CPS didnt want to prosecute!
Welcome to cycling on the roads........