- News
- Reviews
- Bikes
- Accessories
- Accessories - misc
- Computer mounts
- Bags
- Bar ends
- Bike bags & cases
- Bottle cages
- Bottles
- Cameras
- Car racks
- Child seats
- Computers
- Glasses
- GPS units
- Helmets
- Lights - front
- Lights - rear
- Lights - sets
- Locks
- Mirrors
- Mudguards
- Racks
- Pumps & CO2 inflators
- Puncture kits
- Reflectives
- Smart watches
- Stands and racks
- Trailers
- Clothing
- Components
- Bar tape & grips
- Bottom brackets
- Brake & gear cables
- Brake & STI levers
- Brake pads & spares
- Brakes
- Cassettes & freewheels
- Chains
- Chainsets & chainrings
- Derailleurs - front
- Derailleurs - rear
- Forks
- Gear levers & shifters
- Groupsets
- Handlebars & extensions
- Headsets
- Hubs
- Inner tubes
- Pedals
- Quick releases & skewers
- Saddles
- Seatposts
- Stems
- Wheels
- Tyres
- Health, fitness and nutrition
- Tools and workshop
- Miscellaneous
- Tubeless valves
- Buyers Guides
- Features
- Forum
- Recommends
- Podcast
news
Police tape (CC licensed by freefotouk on Flickr)Arrest made after Sussex cyclist injured in serious assault
Sussex Police have arrested a man after a cyclist sustained “significant head injuries” when he was allegedly assaulted by a motorist with what is believed to be a metal pole.
The incident happened at around 4.50pm on Paddockhurst Road, Turners Hill, West Sussex.
Officers say that the driver of a black Mercedes passed the cyclist then got out of his vehicle and assaulted him.
The cyclist, a man aged in his 40s, was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.
Police subsequently arrested a 28-year-old man from East Grinstead on suspicion of grievous bodily harm with intent.
Investigating Officer Detective Inspector Jon Robeson said: “This is a fast-moving investigation with officers able to make a swift arrest.
“The victim has suffered significant head injuries and is currently in hospital receiving medical treatment.
“Did you witness the incident? We would like to hear from anyone who witnessed the alleged assault or has dash cam footage of the incident.
“You can report information to us either online or by calling 101 quoting serial 1042 of 13/04.”
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- Rendel Harris 2 sec ago
Unless of course he doesn't retain his world title, unlikely as that seems, in which case he'll be wearing it for the end of the season, including...
- mikeclarke 2 hours 9 min ago
How much walking/cycling/tram/bus/rail makes up for a little bit of flying? The journey by diesel/petrol to the airport will be the least damaging...
- Aluminium can 2 hours 32 min ago
I found a cateye light in Japan that inexplicably is only available in the Japanese market. Cateye Volt 800 Neo. Great features include a large,...
- Aluminium can 6 hours 29 min ago
You could try prayer. 5 minutes after I got home last night there was an almighty bang outside my house. I came outside to see two expensive cars...
- Jorin 6 hours 47 min ago
Ha! Nice. Ok, am I the only one having trouble "appreicating" the new Colnago?? This one I like, but the new C...
- Destroyer666 8 hours 31 min ago
I can see how this might be a relevant concern for you.
- cmedred 8 hours 59 min ago
Not necessarily. https://dgllc.net/recovering-the-costs-of-litigation/
- chrisonabike 9 hours 6 min ago
Quantum leaping is not limited to bus stops - also comes in handy for other obstructions....
- Jogle 10 hours 57 min ago
Car flips onto its roof in dramatic crash off busy Nottingham roundabout...
- andystow 11 hours 58 min ago
Are the mentioned tyre levers hidden inside the lock?
Add new comment
33 comments
Just prosecuting for the assault with a 'metal pole' which resulted in significant injuries would be an improvement on the usual mitigation because the victim was a cyclist 'who had looked at the driver in a funny way' or whatever.
why did they get out the car and hit the cyclist with a metal pole?
if they had just rammed them with the car, and claimed they simply didn’t see the cyclist, they would have got away with it.
Why on earth would some bloke driving a Mercedes also have a metal pole conveniently to hand...?
Drug Dealer or gang member?
This country has gone completely mad. What the hell, attacking another person with a metal bar, really, what is wrong with people. Whilst there is no detail in the article as to why the cyclist was attacked, there is just no excuse for this sort of behaviour in my view. Hope the cyclist makes a good recovery and wishing him all the best.
I blame Thatcher.
Not sure you can blame her for the war on cyclists. It's more prevalent in Australia; so the obvious suspect would be the Murdoch media pushing this.
I think you could make the case that "might is right" is very similar to the "greed is good" culture which Thatcher did nothing to discourage. Thus I think that "might is right" on the roads can be blamed on Thatcher even if she didn't intend it. There have recently been two reports of motorists thinking that cyclist should get out of their way and I have experienced it recently too. Just yesterday I witnessed a lorry bullying it's way through and forcing car drivers to stop. It's the same thing, my vehicle is bigger than yours so get out of my way.
Nope - I'm pretty sure that I can blame her for every sh!tty development in this country since she decided to gut it
Even Nu-Labour (which is usually held up as "but Labour can be bad") was a consequence of Blair having a secret shrine to her in his basement.
Your hatred of Thatcher is apparent, but it's not a valid theory for rage against cyclists, which is prevalent in many countries, and clearly not exclusive to the UK. This makes as much sense as me blaming a certain German leader from the 1940s, because of his policies, for the current anti cycling rage... Or it could be the media, which can clearly be seen to be pushing this very narrative of a road war, to sell papers and generate clicks. But, hey, don't let the obvious perpetrator get in the way, when you can instead push your unsourced political opinions online, and blame dead people you disagree with, for things they didn't do.
IMO much of the state of modern Britain (that is, how Society perceives itself and how the public dislike the rest of the public) can be traced back to her time. I wasn't commenting on other countries.
Just to say... the title of this article is misleading - the body of the article and police article state that it was a metal pole, not a metal bar - i.e. most likely a scaffolding pole, rather than (say) a tyre lever.
Not that makes a massive amount of difference.
[/quote]
Just to say... the title of this article is misleading - the body of the article and police article state that it was a metal pole, not a metal bar - i.e. most likely a scaffolding pole, rather than (say) a tyre lever.
Not that makes a massive amount of difference.
[/quote]
But who carries around scaffolding poles in a black Mercedes, unless they plan to use them as a weapon?
Perhaps it was a tent pole, scaffolding poles are quite long, so unless there was a roof rack, it seems unlikely it was one of those.
Maybe they were a church organ repairer, using a spare pipe.
Remind me again why assaulting someone because they are riding a bike isn't a hate crime?
Because cycling is a choice rather than an innate characteristic.
We don't need to change the laws on assault, but instead there needs to be more appetite in enforcement, especially when drivers use their vehicle as a weapon - that's not a careless driving charge (not relevant in this case though).
Doesn't have to be innate characteristic. Religions aren't innate, neither is being a Goth, but hatred of either of these can be cited as a motivation for hate crime.
And rightly so, if we are going to say that hatred is an aggravating factor in a crime. I've never understood the logic that only hating difference that we deem worthy makes a crime worse - that in itself is a form of oppression.
Hmmm - maybe we need to dress as goths for cycling, then?
Well at least you wouldn't get comments about not wearing a helmet.
Learning to ride side saddle will be tricky...
You could get a stepthrough?
It's the pedalling that I was worried about - need very short cranks, or just pedal on one side
Oh but we do. Because until it is socially unacceptable things will not begin to change.
Where does it say the victim was assaulted because he was riding a bike?
but would he have been assaulted if he wasn't riding one?
Where does it say that he wasn't?
It also doesn't say that he wasn't assaulted because of his age, race, sex, sexuality etc. He will have been being all those things at the time of his assault just as much as he was being a cyclist.
We don't know the reasons, so it's premature to say it was "because" he's a cyclist. And it's hysterical to call it a hate crime if it turns out that was the reason.
None of which is to distract from this sounding like a horrible crime, for which the perpetrator should be jailed for many years. Attacking someone with a metal bar is considerably worse than hating cyclists.
You are of course correct, we don't know enough to make a full conclusion
But it's not an unreasonable hypothesis. More reasonable than age or sex.
To the letter of the law again you are correct - being a cyclist is not a legally protected characteristic.
However if it is the case that horrific crimes such as this are motivated by hatred of cyclists, it's hardly hysterical to call that out. I don't accept the logic that irrational hatred of someone leading to grievous physical attack due to their chosen mode of transport is any more acceptable than any other irrational hatred leading to grievous physical attack.
Indeed. Attacking someone with a metal bar is considerably worse than hating anyone. The issue here is not either-or; it is (if our original hypothesis is correct) attacking someone because you hold an irrational hatred.
Why does hatred make a difference? That is of course a wider question. It may be that a much wider pool of people is at risk of random attack by the hating individual, which in turn causes a de facto limitation on the freedoms of that group as a whole . I'll let you come to your own conclusions (I presume that you believe that irrational hatred is relevant, otherwise why make the distinction between hatred of cyclists and hatred of other out-groups?)
You can't know someone's age, "race", sex, sexuality, etc just by looking at them. But it is clear that he was cycling, therefore a cyclist, which is literally all the driver would have known about him before the attack.
Who is saying he was assaulted because he was a cyclist? It's hysterical to say someone is calling this a hate crime when they are not. I think you might want to untangle your knickers
Pages