A man who tracked down his stolen bike to a garden piled high with bicycles was struck on the head with a wheel by the prolific thief, who has now avoided jail despite a judge describing the assault as “serious” and condemning the failure of police to intervene.

Martin Shaba, 57, was handed a 12-month suspended sentence at Oxford Crown Court last week after attacking cyclist Oliver Goldstein at his home in Giles Road, Littlemore. He was convicted in April of inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent, as well as handling stolen goods, reports Leicestershire Live.

Shaba had refused to return the stolen bike, and CCTV footage showed him hitting Goldstein with a bicycle wheel as the cyclist attempted to retrieve it from the garden — a yard so full of bikes that some were visible over the top of the fence.

Judge Hassan Khan told Shaba: “On December 8, 2022, Mr Goldstein’s bike was stolen. On December 16, he tracked his bike to your address. He called the police but they didn’t attend. It’s disappointing the police didn’t act sooner.

“Mr Goldstein saw hundreds of bikes in the garden. He asked for his back and you told him to leave. He was then hit on the head by you when he was trying to retrieve his bike. It was a serious incident. CCTV shows you using a bike to hit Mr Goldstein’s head. He was lucky he didn’t suffer a more serious injury.

“Your actions were serious. You suggested you did nothing wrong, but that is quite the opposite. If you come back here, I will have little hesitation to activate the 12-month sentence.”

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In his victim impact statement, Mr Goldstein said: “This led to me being assaulted. One is always cautious that one’s bike will be stolen again. I’m worried I will see him again.

“I have been worried about what would happen when walking around Oxford. I felt the family of the defendant was trying to intimidate me.” He also explained that his injuries had caused a hearing condition, which led to medical episodes “multiple times per week”.

In addition to the suspended sentence, he was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work within 12 months, wear a trail monitoring device for three months, complete 12 rehabilitation activity days, and pay £200 in compensation and £1,000 in costs.

The attack took place less than a year after Shaba’s address was previously searched by Thames Valley Police.

In March 2022, officers executed a warrant at the same home and arrested a then 54-year-old man on suspicion of handling stolen goods and possession of criminal property. Police said they had recovered “a large number of bicycles,” and appealed for potential victims to come forward. At the time, road.cc reported the raid in Littlemore, and though the suspect was not named, it is now understood to be Shaba.

Cycle parking (Oxford station)
Cycle parking (Oxford station) (Image Credit: Simon MacMichael)

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Oxford has one of the highest rates of bicycle theft in the country. According to analysis published in November using data from the Office for National Statistics, the city saw 1,198 bikes reported stolen in 2023 — a rate of seven thefts per 1,000 people, placing it second only to Cambridge nationwide.

The case has reignited concerns about the scale of bike theft in the UK and the risks facing cyclists who attempt to recover their stolen property.

One of the most serious recent incidents occurred in Hartlepool, where a cyclist who tracked down his stolen bike on social media was shot in the abdomen by a drug dealer during a confrontation in January.

Two months ago, 21-year-old Luis Fonseca was sentenced to over five years in a Young Offenders’ Institution after firing the “warning shot” before shooting the victim, who required surgery for life-threatening injuries.

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Meanwhile, in February, there was a violent attack in London’s Regent’s Park in which a cyclist was threatened with a hammer by moped-riding thieves during an early morning ride. And in March, a man in York was chased and assaulted by youths who had taken his bike; he was ultimately able to retrieve it with the help of a passerby.

According to a Liberal Democrat analysis published in late 2024, 89 per cent of bike thefts reported to police since 2019 have gone unsolved. Just two per cent resulted in a charge — a figure the party described as evidence that bicycle theft had been “effectively decriminalised”.

Cycling UK’s director of external affairs, Sarah McGonagle, has previously warned that the “huge social impact” of bike theft, often viewed as a petty crime, can serve as a serious deterrent to cycling. “It’s one of the key factors putting many people off cycling altogether,” she said.