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news
Police arresting cyclist in Stafford (screenshot from Facebook)Police warn they will keep fining cyclists who ride in town centre after arrest escalates into violence
Staffordshire Police have issued a warning to cyclists who ride through Stafford town centre that they will continue to stop and fine them, after a video went viral in which two constables were seen violently shoving a cyclist and arresting him for refusing to provide his details.
The officers stopped the man who was spotted cycling through Stafford town centre. They said this breached a public space protection order (PSPO) in place banning cycling in certain areas.
In the video, the cyclist, named Kieran Crooks-Clarke, can be seen sitting on his bike as two community officers surround him and ask him for his details to issue a fixed penalty notice. When he refuses to do so, the officers proceed to arrest him and then charge him with resisting arrest.
Crooks-Clarke can be heard saying “I am calm, I am not resisting. I’m not running away”, while onlookers questioned the police why were they arresting him. One person says: “Mate he’s not even doing anything, you f****** w***er. You smashed his head off there!”
> “Why is cycling discouraged?” asks councillor as Stafford introduces ban when renewing its PSPO
The police force has now defended its actions and said there had been “lot of complaints” about cyclists in the town centre, reported Birmingham Mail. A spokesperson said: “The Public Space Protection Order is specific to people cycling in the pedestrianised area of Stafford town centre and not wider than that.
"We have received lots of complaints from the public about the issue, on Greengate Street, despite the signs that the council have installed. We have issued warnings to cyclists in the pedestrianised area and we now issue fixed penalty notices and the issue is reducing as a result.”
The incident has prompted questions about why cyclists were being stopped even when not doing anything else wrong. Matt Street posted the video on Facebook saying: “Staffordshire Police Abusing Their Powers [sic]. What an awful situation that everyone had to see in Stafford Town Market Square today as a young man was beaten up and arrested for riding his bike.”
One person commented under the post: “I'm sorry but so many kids ride the bikes through the town. Why has he been arrested and hurt in a way that looks like a criminal??? This is a total waste of police resources. They should actually be doing the job protecting people. Not doing this bulls**t.”
Mr Street also pointed out that where he was arrested is a public road with pavements on both sides that you can drive a car down, but cannot cycle on it.
The arrest follows a crackdown on cyclists in the town centre by Staffordshire Police and Stafford Borough Council following reports of youths causing antisocial behaviour. A number of bikes have been seized and fines issued as part of the tough action.
However, during this incident, police said the man had been merely "been seen cycling through the town centre", before the situation escalated. After the video went viral, Stafford Borough Police said on social media: “We are aware of a video circulating on social media of a recent arrest in Stafford and wanted to provide some further information.
“A member of the public had been seen cycling through the town centre, which is a breach of the public space protection order. The officer stopped and spoke with the man, but he refused to provide his details.
“The officer repeatedly explained the situation, but he continued to refuse to provide the relevant information for a fixed penalty notice. As a result the officer looked to arrest him, which he resisted against.”
“Kieran Crooks-Clarke, age 30, of Stafford, was arrested and has been charged with resisting / obstructing a constable in the lawful execution of his duty. He was also given a fixed penalty notice.”
PSPOs have attracted a degree of controversy for how they criminalise behaviour not normally regarded as illegal and Cycling UK, in particular, has been outspoken in its displeasure at how cycling is frequently included in the mix.
Stafford’s PSPO was first introduced in 2017 and renewed in 2020 with the addition of a ban on cycling, roller skating, skateboarding and scooters in designated areas. Anyone caught breaking the rules faces a £75 fine – reduced to £50 if paid within 10 days.
However, one Staffordshire councillor questioned the inclusion of cycling in the order. She said: “In lockdown a couple of residents have spoken and made me question the reasons behind these orders.
“Why is cycling discouraged? If this is a decision you made because of the number of falls or serious injuries caused by cyclists through the town centre, please can we see evidence of this.”
Commenting on the council’s attitude to cycling, a cabinet member for community and health said: “There is significant investment by the county council in cycling, which is why we want to see people ditching the motor car and using cycle ways, public transport and legs.
“It’s right we should have some cycleways – that way it’s safer and we’re not mixing pedestrians with cyclists. I can imagine people coming out of shops, not paying attention and being mown down by cyclists. I know of people including a councillor that have been hit by cycles in Stafford town centre.
“It’s right we take these precautions so people can enjoy Stafford town centre as they should.”
Adwitiya joined road.cc in 2023 as a news writer after graduating with a masters in journalism from Cardiff University. His dissertation focused on active travel, which soon threw him into the deep end of covering everything related to the two-wheeled tool, and now cycling is as big a part of his life as guitars and football. He has previously covered local and national politics for Voice Wales, and also likes to writes about science, tech and the environment, if he can find the time. Living right next to the Taff trail in the Welsh capital, you can find him trying to tackle the brutal climbs in the valleys.
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31 comments
Are these two blocks Staffordshire policemen or Stafforshire pitbulls?
“I can imagine people coming out of shops, not paying attention and being mown down by cyclists. I know of people including a councillor that have been hit by cycles in Stafford town centre."
Erm, so the pedestrian is not paying attention and the cyclist is mowing them down?
People don't look for passing cyclists or pedestrians when they come out of shops, in my experience.
(edited becase alansmurphy and joe9090 were being pedantic!)
Indeed but how do they know they were mown down?
How do they know they have even left the shop if they are not looking? So many questions...
Meanwhile in other Birmingham news, 3 cyclists killed in as many weeks and safety campaigners observe red light jumping, speeding etc. in the 1hr that they were campaigning.
How could the police issue a fine if they didn't actually stop the rider whilst committing the offence? Because he was 'observed' committing it? By whom, was it on video? because feck me, they seem to ignore virtually all video evidence and reports of dangerous driving. They assault cyclists for allegedly committing an offence, but the most they will do to dangerous drivers is ask them who was driving so they can send a letter asking them not to do it again.
So we need more bike lanes etc but the govt is cutting the walking and cycling budget which techinically isn't even legal. Fundraiser to stop them doing so:
https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/stop-the-cuts-to-walking-and-cycling/
Needs a bit more cash, looks like the donations have stalled so if anyone could spread the word that'd be good.
Bloody pavement drivers. There's your problem.
Hmmm. 3 comments.
1 - Matt Street is making arguments based on values expressed by the FReeman on the Land nutter lobby - "no contract exists here", "he has not given you his name so he cannot be arrested" and so on.
Not the way to win.
2 - These PSPOs are way beyond reasonable, and need cutting off at the knees.
3 - Tories won't do it; the current lot are political cowards pandering to the motoring lobby. They can't even come up with pavement parking laws or regulatory ideas for e-scooters.
However we need to remember that the most authoritarian Govt in recent history was probably New Labour in its heydey - remember RIPA and how that developed, and the attempted 90 day detention without trial.
Personally I think Starmer may develop a case of LMF.
And Lib Dems would sell their granny to a glue factory for a couple of cheap populist votes (see Hammersmith Bridge or NIMBY-pandering in the blue wall as possible examples), so I can see them doing PSPOs.
Not an easy one.
I wonder if one potential way ahead is use of the Equality Act 2010 - we may need cycles as a recognised mobility aid first, however.
Kingston - upon -Thames is one of the most prosperous shopping towns in the country, It's fully pedestrianized but it allows cyclists to ride through the pedestrianized area, they have marked a cycle lane through it.
The main shopping area in central bristol is pedestrianised but shared use. It can get pretty busy, but you just ride slower and/or more carefully.
(When I'm going through there as a pedestrian, I actually find that the users of mobility scooters tend to be more antisocial...)
I expect the mobility scooter users have had it up to here with general pedestrian behaviour. Is it my imagination or do people just not have any spatial awareness these days?
Very sensible.
IMHO the main reason Kingston works is because they have put a fair chunk of effort into surrounding routes.
Arguably it is carrot and stick;
But the stick in Kingston is 'route x will be rammed with pedestrians so you can barely do 10mph on a bike through it, and that means being a reckless twat'.
The carrot is 'route y is slightly longer, but a lot quicker and still well segregated from cars'
The stick of police fines is no where near as strong as the stick of 'a driver might crush you'; Hence why it never works...
I live in the town and the order was introduced not because of, shall we say, mature cyclists, but because of the chav shits pulling wheelies and riding full pelt through the pedestrian area in big groups.
Recently they caused havoc at an evening market and the market square is currently being rejuvenated so there is even less space.
The PCSOs around the centre are in response to that really.
I ride that way regularly and a safe, no-hassle, detour adds 30 seconds to your journey.
I doubt you'll hear a local rider mither about it.
I'm not from the area but take your point.
However. It tickles me when you see this David v Goliath battle. Compare it to the bikejacking and bike theft pandemic happening across the country. And there's not a sigle bloody Rozza in sight!
Low hanging fruit only need apply.
An excellent reason why these don't work.
Introduce a broad brush measure to fix a narrow 'youff" problem, but in practice sanctions cannot be easily applied against minors, so the council end up targeting people who are not part of the problem to justify their stupid intervention.
Do we have a list of places run by stupid bigots which should never be visited? My local one is Mansfield - 5 miles away and I have been there twice in 5 years.
The correct response is precisely the same as e-scooters - segregate to designated mobility tracks and regulate. "Mobility tracks" are called "cycle tracks" by some people.
So the PSPO has had little effect on the problem then?
They ramped it up because of that. Previously they weren't really that bothered outside of the school holidays.
As I said, you'll not hear a local rider mither as an easy detour to get from one end to another exists. I've even ridden that detour today as the Ironman is on and the centre closed to traffic/bikes/scooters.
I lived in Stafford before the PSPO and there was a problem with groups of cyclists riding aggressively through narrow pedestrian lanes.
However this does nothing to fix that, you can't issue an FPN to ten people doing wheelies off into the distance so instead otherwise legal and responsible cycling gets criminalised.
Low-hanging fruit, no? Council can say they're addressing what sounds like a pain point for some pedestrians. Those tasked with enforcement will be happy if they can report numbers nicked without having to deal with a pack of youths - who might be both armed AND vulnerable *.
Result - the place is spoiled for the more moderate.
* I really don't envy the police in these cases. There's risk to them, the youth are often a step ahead, I wouldn't relish someone filming me at work and posting it on the net. Whatever you do is likely to cause complaints, if not uproar. It is the job they signed up to though...
The video is here https://www.facebook.com/matt.street.773/videos/102050299582991
Matt Street turns out to be one of those "sovereign citizen" types who's interpretation of the law is rather different to reality.
I find all that "freemen of the land / sovereign citizen" guff that took off during the pandemic to be quite ridiculous.
That arrest would be assault if performed by anyone but a rozzer. I don't believe grabbing the throat and kneeing is accepted police procedure. Unfortunately plenty there to cover resisting arrest
After 30 secs I was wishing for a version with Mark Street dubbed out though.
Hmm, there's a post office van in the video and it's hardly packed with pedestrians. Seems excessive to hand out a fine unless he was cycling in a particularly anti-social manner. He was being very uncooperative with the police, though not enough to warrant that use of force IMO.
Well, that's some all-round impressive police work in that video!
Yup "freeman on the land" stuff which is utter nonsense
But the other guy was at it too. It's unlikely that two such nutters would be randomly involved in the one incident - I'm wondering if the whole thing was set up by them
In Staffordshire, are pedestrians fined £75 for walking in a cycle path?
And how can you ban bikes but not cars?
Whatever the answers are, it's the tories' fault.
I thought I'd missed something: is cycling banned there *at all*? I'd presumed that the PSPO covered a pedestrianised area, yet
It's a bit of a weird PSPO order that seems to conflict with the signage on the street. The PSPO bans motor vehicles except for loading between 4pm and 10am, yet the street signage seems to imply you can drive down there if you are disabled or load/unload anytime on a Sunday.
In addition, bicycles are specifically banned at all times! (note no mention of unicycles, tricycles or velomobiles!)
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