A Kent cyclist has once again raised the alarm about bikejackings in the area, sharing video footage of two moped-riding attackers forcing him off the road in a frightening incident on a busy road in broad daylight.
Peter Roper sent road.cc the video of the attempted bikejacking which happened on the A25 in Brasted on Tuesday afternoon. He was riding his Trek e-bike when he saw the moped pass in the opposite direction, the rider and passenger shortly afterwards pulling alongside the cyclist to threaten him.
“Bro, bro, get off the bike bro,” one of the attackers shouted. “Get off the bike, get off the bike now. Get off the bike. I got a shank [knife], bro. Get off the bike, bro… Give me the f****** bike now.”
Peter was then pushed from the road, fortunately able to mount the pavement due to the dropped kerb, ending the attack.
“They rode off and then turned up a side lane,” he told road.cc, explaining how he is a 76-year-old rider who was enjoying a ride through “a quiet, rural village in Kent… or so I thought.”
“Very unpleasant experience. The riders were fully covered with balaclavas (no helmets) and of course no registration number on the moped. So, the police don’t have enough to work with, probably.
“The police have been helpful, but seem to think that this is a new problem that they hadn’t heard of before!”
Peter responded to the police’s surprise at the incident by forwarding another of our stories, from last summer, when British Cycling stepped in to say it was “deeply concerned” by a spate of violent bikejackings across south London.
In the most high-profile incident, in autumn 2021, professional cyclist Alexandar Richardson was knocked off his bike, dragged for 100 metres by muggers on motorbikes, and threatened with a machete during a shocking bikejacking in Richmond Park.
In April, a teenager, aged 15 when Richardson was attacked, was jailed for 12 months for the bikejacking.
Another professional cyclist, former Scottish champion Jennifer George said she no longer rides alone after she was similarly attacked by two people on a motorbike during a long ride from her home in south east London out to Surrey.
“I’ve never felt so vulnerable in my life. I’ve never felt so terrified in my life,” she said.
A chase ensued, with the attackers trying to veer into the 39-year-old. When George asked them to leave her alone, one of the attackers said “no, why should we?” She managed to make it to a busy pub nearby, and collapsed having a panic attack.
Seven weeks later George was targeted by two more would-be attackers on mopeds, and she was forced to wait in a driveway for half an hour until they had gone. She reported both incidents to the police, with Surrey Police filing details of the first incident due to limited lines of enquiry, and Kent Police failing to respond at all.
Last summer, a member of Penge Cycling Club narrowly escaped a robbery attempt near West Wickham, around five miles west of Orpington, during which the rider was told he would be stabbed if he did not give up his 2022 Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL7.
While another incident saw a Trek Domane SL6 and Wilier GTR forcefully taken by a group, described as “youths on mopeds” by one victim and “four males on mopeds” by the other.
Duncan Dollimore, head of campaigns at Cycling UK, said he believes criminals are attracted towards stealing high-end bikes because the potential money to be made from selling them on far outweighs the chances of getting caught.
“It is possibly perceived as a low-risk crime if the numbers of people being caught are so low,” he explained. “It may be seen as a high-reward, low-risk crime.
“There have been increasing concerns about people cycling out of London to the Kent and Surrey hills who have been victims of muggings or robbery. There are a limited number of routes where people would cycle out of London.
“Somebody has posted on Strava what they are doing on their ride. The criminals will know it is someone on a £3,000 to £4,000 carbon fibre bike who has unwittingly signposted the fact that they are likely to be heading out to Kent or the Surrey Hills. It is on the police’s radar.”
6 thoughts on “Shocking footage shows cyclist threatened by moped-riding thieves in latest bikejacking attempt”
No helmets and no reg plate I
No helmets and no reg plate I could see. Odds on chance that the scooter’s been nicked and I bet neither of them has a licence either. It’s pretty poor that these guys are still out there.
The police just don’t seem to
The police just don’t seem to tackle these criminals. But who can blame them given the repercussions for the individual officer should the rider fall off and hurt themselves.
I had a group of balaclava clad, tracksuit wearing, illegal motorbike riders go past me in Reading on Sunday. This was very close to the Reading Festival site and there were police all over the place. Couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Obviously they’ve no concern about being caught. I was a bit twitchy until I got out of the urban area.
This image was taken from an
This image was taken from an episode one of those motorway police programmes on Channel 5 just recently.
In full view of the Police and the TV camera man, a gang tried to steal the electric scooter that the suspect the Police were arresting was riding. UK roads are now a free-4-all.
Amateurs.
Amateurs.
There have been a few
There have been a few incidents in London, more recently in Cardiff where it caused a small riot, where the Police try to apprehend these suspects, but it results with the suspects being injured or killed and the Police Officers being investigated.
Consequently, individual officers ignore these individuals now, it is too much trouble!!!
So the roads are no longer safe, especially for us cyclists riding more expensive bikes.
For about 4 decades I have cycled through Orpington, Cudham Lane, Brasted, Westerham etc. NOT ANY MORE! I stopped a year ago after avoiding being robbed at knifepoint. I have also been on the receiving end of thuggery.
I’m not surprised the sales of bikes have fallen, it may not be just down to the cost of living and supply issues.
Back in March I contacted
Back in March I contacted both Brtish Cycling (Luke Anderson) and Cycling Uk (Duncan Dollimore) about these serious issues affecting cyclists.
I proposed the two organisation created a incident reporting portal for cyclists to record their experiences.
CHIRP
I suggested it could be called CHIRP – Cycling Hazardous Incident Reporting Portal.
My only source of data regarding serious incidents is Road.cc, but I strongly suspect these reports are only the tip of the iceberg.
The problem with BC and CUK, is they are focused on promoting cycling, and tackling serious safety issues detracts from thier messaging.
Having a portal to report incidents of bikejacing/attempted robbery, thuggery (being kicked/doored etc) collisions/near collisions with distracted drivers, personal injury collisions where the Police do not attend (therefore, do not appear on collision statistics), will help to identify problem areas and give urgency to creating solutions.
I could go on……