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Car passenger hits cyclist over head with baseball bat

Essex Police investigate unprovoked assault in Basildon that left cyclist needing stitches

Police in Essex are investigating an incident in which a cyclist sustained a head injury after a passenger in a car that was passing struck him with a baseball bat.

The cyclist, a man aged in his 20s, needed stitches to a cut to the top of his scalp following the incident, say Essex Pollice.

The force says that it happened on Burnt Mills Road, Basildon at around 5.30pm on Monday 23 January.

The assailant is said to have been on the passenger side of the vehicle involved, which is said to be dark in colour.

Police are urging anyone who has information or CCTV or dashcam footage to get in touch, quoting crime reference number 42/13817/23.

Information can be reported online, or by telephoning police on the non-emergency number 101.

Alternatively, people with information can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.

Conservative town councillor Stuart Terson, who represents the Pitsea North West ward, said he was shocked to learn of the attack.

“Firstly, I hope the young man is recovering well,” he told EchoNews.co.uk.

“This is a shocking act and completely unprovoked the resident was just cycling down the road.

“I would ask anybody within the information to contact the police. Someone must know who carried this out. This behaviour must not be tolerated,” he added.

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.

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27 comments

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wtjs | 1 year ago
1 like

It's Essex police, which is training to compete with Lancashire for the Indolence Policing trophy - so the victim won't hear any more about it because he's only a witness to being hit over the head with a baseball bat, and anyway, where's the video to show he didn't do it to himself? Besides, they can't do anything even if they find the vehicle, but the driver denies that any baseball bat wielding has ever occurred in his car

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OldRidgeback | 1 year ago
1 like

That's horrendous. I hope the perpetrator is located and gets a suitable assault charge. And I hope the victim heals up ok.

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ChrisB200SX | 1 year ago
7 likes

Is attacking a cyclist, or attempting to subjugate cyclists, a hate crime yet?

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chrisonabike replied to ChrisB200SX | 1 year ago
3 likes

Well there have been various outcries over people attacked for other aspects of their "identity" (e.g. how they dress) but that hasn't changed things.

It would seem in the UK there are some people who are quite prepared to think of "cyclists" as a separate group and target them.  It's a popular trope in some parts of the media as well (thanks Rod Liddle, Matthew Paris et. al!).  It's even true that the logical "there is no 'us' " statement is weakened a little.  Due to the difficulties and sometimes hostile conditions in the UK people who ride bikes may share a bit more than e.g. "yeah I've got a Specialised too".  Per the thread on waving to others on bikes - no-one would even bother writing such an article about driving?

I don't think it's up to "protected characteristic" standard though (list here - can you recall / guess them all?).

What would additional legislation address?  What would you hope it to do in practice?  Particularly given the police, CPS and courts are deficient on detecting, prosecuting, convicting and applying substantial penalties under existing laws here?

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ChrisB200SX replied to chrisonabike | 1 year ago
2 likes

chrisonatrike wrote:

Well there have been various outcries over people attacked for other aspects of their "identity" (e.g. how they dress) but that hasn't changed things.

The change in phone-driving law didn't change things overnight, it takes time, all changes do.
Changing the law can make can make something more socially unacceptable.

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chrisonabike replied to ChrisB200SX | 1 year ago
2 likes

ChrisB200SX wrote:

The change in phone-driving law didn't change things overnight, it takes time, all changes do.

Changing the law can make can make something more socially unacceptable.

Indeed - but I wouldn't say the phone-driving law is a good example of "change" yet...

Drink-driving / seatbelts (although different) might be?

I suspect rules about "looking out for others" - especially "the other" - tend to be more difficult to make happen than ones directly for people's benefit though.

In this case it's another chicken and egg problem but if we can somehow get to the point where much more people are using cycling for transport I suspect this just goes away - because there aren't "cyclists" any more or rather "cyclists" are anyone - me, my child, my friends...

I'm not against more legislation on principle.  Note that all of our current "characteristics" are as they are since they have a long history of persecution and indeed are still given as reason for an awful lot of violence.

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hawkinspeter replied to chrisonabike | 1 year ago
3 likes

chrisonatrike wrote:

Indeed - but I wouldn't say the phone-driving law is a good example of "change" yet...

Drink-driving / seatbelts (although different) might be?

I suspect rules about "looking out for others" - especially "the other" - tend to be more difficult to make happen than ones directly for people's benefit though.

In this case it's another chicken and egg problem but if we can somehow get to the point where much more people are using cycling for transport I suspect this just goes away - because there aren't "cyclists" any more or rather "cyclists" are anyone - me, my child, my friends...

I'm not against more legislation on principle.  Note that all of our current "characteristics" are as they are since they have a long history of persecution and indeed are still given as reason for an awful lot of violence.

As I remember, the drink driving and seatbelt laws were accompanied by a LOT of public awareness campaigns with many prime time adverts on TV and across media. However, I'd suggest not using an establishment supported, predatory pedophile to present them.

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chrisonabike replied to hawkinspeter | 1 year ago
1 like

Is it just pedophiles who you advise against or anyone with a public profile and a questionable record on sexual consent?

Still I guess we'll never forget them now...

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hawkinspeter replied to chrisonabike | 1 year ago
2 likes

chrisonatrike wrote:

Is it just pedophiles who you advise against or anyone with a public profile and a questionable record on sexual consent?

Still I guess we'll never forget them now...

Both are bad, but it's especially heinous when so many people know about it and do nothing just because the person brings in money.

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Rendel Harris replied to ChrisB200SX | 1 year ago
2 likes

No, and it's probably best that it remains that way because there is a certain type of person who desperately feels the need to hate somebody in order to compensate for the inadequacy of their own lives, some of them so much so that they will spend hours and hours per day on sites dedicated to the people/activity they hate in order to tell everyone how much they hate them. It's incredibly tiresome for genuine visitors to those sites to put up with, but we should see it as a positive in that they are providing an outlet for their bile which otherwise might overflow in more sinister and dangerous directions. Hopefully it acts as a steam valve for their unpleasantness and so mitigates their nastiness in the real world.

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EK Spinner | 1 year ago
0 likes

I wonder how they know it was a baseball bat ?, hopefully because it was dropped and has fingerprints / DNA on it and this gets processed appropriatly

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quiff | 1 year ago
0 likes

"I hope the young man is recovering welling"?

I know it's a quote from another source, but I think that warrants a [sic] 

[EDIT: and "I would ask anyone within the information"?! The councillor talks like one of the Mr Men]

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ShutTheFrontDawes | 1 year ago
7 likes

If only the cyclist had a radar. It would have gone beep and the cyclist would have known to dive into the hedge. When will we learn!

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Secret_squirrel | 1 year ago
1 like

On the bright side at least the 14 day rule doesn't apply.  Hope he gets better. 

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Fignon's ghost replied to Secret_squirrel | 1 year ago
4 likes

Very good!

And if there's one thing he's learned from this episode is....

ALWAYS WEAR A CAMERA. FRONT AND BACK!

It's the best deterrent and the ONLY means to successfully prosecuting the maggot in the motor.

Stay safe comrades.

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Simon E replied to Fignon's ghost | 1 year ago
2 likes

Fignon's ghost wrote:

And if there's one thing he's learned from this episode is.... ALWAYS CARRY A HAMMER in your rucksack, you never know when it will come in handy.

FTFY

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chrisonabike replied to Simon E | 1 year ago
10 likes

Shurely "always wear a helmet rated to protect against attack with baseball bats"?

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ShutTheFrontDawes replied to chrisonabike | 1 year ago
2 likes
chrisonatrike wrote:

Shurely "always wear a helmet rated to protect against attack with baseball bats"?

A cycling helmet is not designed to protect against a baseball bat though, and therefore it offers no protection against a baseball bat. And in fact it makes the cyclist only more likely to be attacked by a baseball bat on the basis that the cyclist is more likely to cycle near a sports stadium because they have a false sense of security against baseball bats.

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chrisonabike replied to ShutTheFrontDawes | 1 year ago
3 likes

TBH if I saw a knight I wanted to properly bat who was wearing a helmet (on a very short horse, say) I'd probably hit the horse's head / legs (trip it up!)  Then deal with the fallen knight at leisure.

On the other hand if it was a ride-by (say I'd been playing too much "Grand Tourney Cheval") I'd probably hit the knight as I passed - but not necessarily on the helmet.  If the helmet looked a bit flimsy though, or didn't cover their whole head - maybe they'd just got the padding on to be less constricted - I might be more tempted to smash them through or around that.

We may be overthinking this one though...

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Oldfatgit replied to Fignon's ghost | 1 year ago
3 likes

While out riding in August last year, one of our group was hit in the face by a plastic bottle with fluid in that had been thrown from an on coming car.
Despite clear video showing the bottle, and the car registration, Police Scotland have decided not to prosecute as "the driver denied all knowledge".

Do NOT rely on video evidence.

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hawkinspeter replied to Oldfatgit | 1 year ago
3 likes

Oldfatgit wrote:

While out riding in August last year, one of our group was hit in the face by a plastic bottle with fluid in that had been thrown from an on coming car. Despite clear video showing the bottle, and the car registration, Police Scotland have decided not to prosecute as "the driver denied all knowledge". Do NOT rely on video evidence.

I'd propose that the video evidence was not the issue there. I hope a complaint was raised and escalated.

However, Scotland is now looking an attractive place to commit bank robbery as long as you can deny all knowledge of stuffing money into a bag.

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Oldfatgit replied to hawkinspeter | 1 year ago
2 likes

Unfortunately, the person who was assaulted does not wish to progress, nor do they wish the video of the incident to be in the public domain.

I can't progress any complaint with Police Scotland as I'm just a witness (and the footage owner).

We might not like it, but not everyone has Mickey's determination ... and we have to respect their right to a quiet life.

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hawkinspeter replied to Oldfatgit | 1 year ago
1 like

Oldfatgit wrote:

Unfortunately, the person who was assaulted does not wish to progress, nor do they wish the video of the incident to be in the public domain. I can't progress any complaint with Police Scotland as I'm just a witness (and the footage owner). We might not like it, but not everyone has Mickey's determination ... and we have to respect their right to a quiet life.

That's a shame, but I totally understand.

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ShutTheFrontDawes replied to Oldfatgit | 1 year ago
1 like
Oldfatgit wrote:

While out riding in August last year, one of our group was hit in the face by a plastic bottle with fluid in that had been thrown from an on coming car.
Despite clear video showing the bottle, and the car registration, Police Scotland have decided not to prosecute as "the driver denied all knowledge".

Do NOT rely on video evidence.

Having a registration plate does not pin the driver, it only pins the vehicle. This provides the police with a get-out that enables them to do less work. Unfortunately having one get-out is perfect for them - usually they refuse to do their job with zero get-outs.

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Oldfatgit replied to ShutTheFrontDawes | 1 year ago
5 likes

It was supposed to be being prosecuted as Assault and not as a motor vehicle offence.
Surely Perverting the Course of Justice should be a charge levied at the driver of the vehicle for failing to disclose the rear passenger.
The video was with PS less than 48 hours from the offence...

Not gonna lie ... it fecking sticks like a claw that some little cocksocket can commit assault and just breeze the feck away, no doubt pissing themselves laughing at having scored a direct hit.

Makes me wonder if I'm ever killed in a hit and run, and the cameras have caught the incident ... Will the Police do anything about it... or is my widow gonna have a shit storm battle

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quiff replied to Oldfatgit | 1 year ago
4 likes

Oldfatgit wrote:

it fecking sticks like a claw 

To continue my theme of commenting only on language rather than the substance of this article, is that a mondegreen for "sticks in the craw"?

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Oldfatgit replied to quiff | 1 year ago
2 likes

Yes .. that and I was watching the cat, who had one of her claws stuck in the curtain at the time.
Eyesight, and the desire to evolve the English language did the rest  1

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