Two Manchester cyclists were injured earlier this month when they rode into a rope that had been deliberately strung across a path in Bryn, Manchester police have revealed.
The incidents happened within an hour of each other on 5 September, but details have only today been released.
The first crash happened at 5.30am in the morning, when the 51-year-old victim was making his usual cycle trip to work.
As he cycled along a temporary footpath, installed due to roadworks on Bryn Road, Bryn, he struck a rope that had been attached over the path at head level.
He was knocked off his bike and suffered an injury to his nose and a dislocated shoulder. He was taken to hospital for treatment and police say he is now making a good recovery.
Around an hour later a 41-year-old man was cycling along the same stretch when he was also knocked off his bike. He suffered an injury to his nose and bruising to his faced and had treatment at his GP surgery.
Detective Constable Andrew Hill of Wigan CID, said: “This is one of the stupidest and most reckless acts I have ever seen.
“It’s only by sheer good luck that these innocent cyclists weren’t seriously injured or even killed. Whoever did this deliberately placed the rope at head height for optimum effect, and it could so easily have proved devastatingly successful.
“The victims were using a temporary footpath so it’s conceivable that the culprit had been annoyed at cyclists riding on the path. However, no amount of frustration can ever justify this crime.
“I now want to hear from anyone who may have seen anyone acting suspiciously.”
Anyone with information is asked to call police on 0161 856 5307 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
17 thoughts on “Two riders in Manchester knocked off by rope strung across path; police appeal for help”
nasty, Hope they make a quick
nasty, Hope they make a quick recovery.
I removed a length of electrical flex strung across a bike path in Newcastle a couple of weeks back, the scum responsible had also attached bags of dog dirt to it – yes, really.
One question though, did both people hit the same length of rope? If so, why was it not removed after first incident?
DC Hill seems to be looking
DC Hill seems to be looking for mitigation. Would he say “It’s conceivable the Bank Robber had been turned down for an overdraft”?
Why is there so much criminal
Why is there so much criminal activity towards cyclists, and nothing os realy being done about it….this just takes the cake
Check the Social networking
Check the Social networking sites for the video to appear. I’d say the culprits are in their early to mid teens and thought it would be a laugh.
So one cyclist gets clothes
So one cyclist gets clothes lined, has an ambulance attend and yet within an hour, another cyclist has the same done on the same path.
Do the police actually (bother to) do anything nowadays? Im sure Stumpy will pop up with a whole list of reasons why the same thing happened in the same area in the same timeframe and GMP did fuckall.
doubt is was kids. it was
doubt is was kids. it was 5.30 in the morning.
unless they did it late evening and it was there all night but that doesnt explain how someone else managed to do the same thing an hour later. something missing from this story me thinks
I was forced to stop just
I was forced to stop just after passing under a bridge to remove a branch that had been placed across a cycle path. As I returned to the bike I had paint poured over me. The Police couldn’t have been less interested. X( X(
I was lucky in that a mate of mine overheard the culpritboasting about it and “rectified the situation” 🙂
GMP are too busy with
GMP are too busy with Operation Grimaldi to be worried about such trifling incidents. After all, cyclists aren’t real humans anyway.
Ghedebrav wrote:GMP are too
Edited for you.
Is this the same police force
Is this the same police force that said they couldn’t identify the Stoke City footballer on French plates and twitter id’d him in hours ? If so, it sounds like there’s a few due for early retirement….
I too remember cycling
I too remember cycling through Manchester on my commute on I think cycle route 6 (an old railway line, very dimly lit), and luckily slowing down before i went under a bridge because i didn’t want to get my feet soaked going through puddles….and then hit a log.
The chavvy little sh*ts had put about 3-4 logs across the cycle path under the bridge…do they not know they could potentially kill someone??
Although I did also encounter a moped on flames under a bridge on my ride home, presumably public spirited citizens drawing attention to the lack of lighting on the route.
I reported the same sort of
I reported the same sort of thing in Exeter this morning a rope across a foot/cycle bridge, luckily the rope was on the ground at the time. I can only assume at some point during the hours of darkness someone strung it up and someone took it down before anyone could be injured.
This ‘Manchester’ place
This ‘Manchester’ place sounds charming.
To misquote from Porridge ‘I
To misquote from Porridge ‘I used to think I was working class. Then I went to Manchester and realised I was middle-class’.
The same thing 9with a rope)
The same thing 9with a rope) happened in weymouth a few years back. just saying, its not uncommon.
Ok just to clear a few points
Ok just to clear a few points up.. I was the 1st cyclist injured by the rope at 5:30. We, (the police and myself) presume it was some scallys, and hopefully not the workmen. The rope caught me across the bridge of my nose, luckily I was wearing clear cycling glasses, otherwise it could of damaged my eyes. The impact dug the lower edge of my glasses into my nose and cheek, resulting in cuts and heavy bleeding, and hit the deck on my right shoulder, suffering a dislocated collarbone. As you can imagine, it was a hell of a shock, and I tried to get the rope down, but with only one hand and no knife I couldn’t. I waited about 100yrds away to go to A&E, and warned any cyclists who passed me, but obviously I couldn’t stop any cyclists/runners approaching from the other side. Someone with a knife managed to cut it down later. I had an op this week to pin the collarbone back down, and attach any untorn ligaments, and now 5wks of immobility followed by physio. The police officer dealing with the case was excellent btw.
simon123 wrote:Ok just to
I’m stunned and truly gobsmacked by this.
I mean, who knew that they had the internet in Wigan?
I am, of course, just kidding, hope you’re on the mend quickly mucker.