The owner of a van in Cheadle, Greater Manchester, that was pictured earlier this week with spikes protruding from its nearside wing mirror has claimed that he made the improvised modification to deter vandals.
As we reported earlier this week, the vehicle, carrying the livery of a painting and decorating firm, was reported to a “sceptical” call handler at Greater Manchester Police by Twitter user OneAdultSwim1, who had also spotted two other vehicles in the area with similar spikes on the wing mirror.
> Car wing mirrors studded with spikes reported to Greater Manchester Police
Responding to the picture he tweeted, Surrey Police Roads Policing Unit said that it constituted an arrestable offence for possession of an offensive weapon.
According to the website Lad Bible the vehicle’s owner claims that he places the spikes on the vehicle while it is parked up over the weekend to prevent the wing mirror from being vandalised.
Jonathan Tomney, aged 41, said: “I’m sick to death of my property being vandalised.
“Every Saturday night when I park the van up somewhere I put the spikes on.
“I only put it on over the weekends to stop my property from being vandalised.”
“I just hope that if one of the little b******s tries to take my wing mirror again they’ll sever their hand,” he added.
OneAdultSwim1 originally posted to Twitter on Sunday, saying that there “Seems to be a growing trend in my area of adding crude spikes to the passenger side wing mirror … usually in the form of large screws through the mirror casing.
“Spotted one, and another and a third today all on different vehicles. I’m going to get a picture next time. Be warned.”
He subsequently posted a picture of it on Monday evening and, prompted by other Twitter users, many of whom wondered if the device was targeted at cyclists, reported it to police on Tuesday morning.
While the owner of the van insists the wing mirror is only covered with spikes when parked at the weekend, the other two vehicles spotted with similar devices were both in moving traffic.
Speaking to road.cc on Tuesday, OneAdultSwim1 said: “Last week I’ve seen three vehicles with this modification. The first two I saw were in the same line of traffic a few cars apart on Station Road in Cheadle, in the middle of last week.
“They were both rugged-looking vehicles with intermediate off-road tyres and air intake rams, rumbling down the small high street here.
“However the image I posted is on the side of liveried van (painter and decorator) which is also in the Cheadle area, I noticed this on Sunday, went past again yesterday and gave them a close-up inspection, just to check they weren’t rubber or anything.”
He reported the van to police on the non-emergency number 101 to what he described as “a very sceptical call handler.”
He continued: “I was reluctant to post as might give others ideas, but decided to post in the end after consideration.
“I also asked during the call if there was any way I could pass on the images but they don’t have that facility. The report was made about 08:30 and the lady said she would ‘pass it on’.”
We approached Greater Manchester Police for a comment on Tuesday but have not received a reply from them.
48 thoughts on “Owner of van with spiked wing mirror claims it is to deter vandals, not harm cyclists”
Blatant pavement parker.
Blatant pavement parker.
Oh yes of course, vandals are
Oh yes of course, vandals are well known for being very specific on passenger side mirrors.
And of course you carefully strip down the mirror, lovingly remove each and every screw, every time you jump in your facking van to go to the facking pub, you psychopathic w@nker!
Perhaps the driver is
Perhaps the driver is assiduous about following rule 239 (do not park facing against the traffic flow), so the passenger side mirror is always the easier target.
Well, yes, it is the pavement
Well, yes, it is the pavement-side wing mirror they kick, ninja style. Happened to my car a couple of times. I fail to see how the spikes would deter or prevent since I’m guessing they kick the mirror up from underneath, or land their foot on top to smack it down. Kicking it horizontally will only cause it to fold, maybe even to dislocate the hinge, but most mirrors are designed to breakaway in that axis, and survive.
It looks like there is a
It looks like there is a cover added over the top of the mirror with screws driven through it, then taped on. It’s not a ‘repair’ …
Looks like the car has joined
Looks like the car has joined the Cenobites.
So he admits that he’s
So he admits that he’s modified his vehicle specifically so as to cause harm to others? Not sure the police will look too kindly on that…
brooksby wrote:
Even spikes on wheels wouldn’t be so bad, but spikes at the height of a child’s head is particularly malicious.
er…wont they just smack the
er…wont they just smack the side of the wing mirror without spikes?
…or just bash it off with a
…or just bash it off with a baseball bat or something similar?
Why am I thinking of buying a
Why am I thinking of buying a baseball bat…
When I first saw this story
When I first saw this story last week, I did wonder if it might be an (ill-advised) attempt to deter vandals from knocking the mirror… until half a second later I realised just this – anyone wanting to cause mindless criminal damage would hit the other side anyway.
quiff wrote:
They would need to walk in the road to hit the other side.
This makes more sense the the suspicion it is intended for injuring cyclists, as anyone hit by the mirror of a passing vehicle is likely to come off badly regardless of any spikes.
wycombewheeler wrote:
I meant that if you wanted to damage a wing/door/a-pillar mirror, you would probably hit it from the back (glass) side, as many of them are designed to fold in if hit from the front, so spikes would do little to deter vandals anyway. Though anyone attaching spikes to their car, for any reason, probably hasn’t thought that far ahead.
Exactly, they are designed to
Exactly, they are designed to fold in hit from the front, so that in theory gently knocking the mirror of a passing car at low speed they fold in rather than get broken.
As demonstrated by some numpty plumber in Pimlico if you want to smash off a Rolls Royce mirror you kick it from the mirror side, from a bike, and the CCTV will magically cut away for the instant of impact, and return a fraction later to show that the cyclist never even wobbbled.
This is just his hastily thought up “how can I get away with this” excuse. If it’s just a wrap around a vandal will more likely steal it, but it appears to be secured rather well with tape to believe the “I just put it on at weekend” line.
Carrier bag. Zip-tie. Can of
Carrier bag. Zip-tie. Can of expanding foam. Threat neutralised!
Probably a bit much. The mischievous in me is sorely tempted to impale various objects on it though. Possibly starting with a cheap supermarket chicken. But I’m too old for those sort of antics, best left to a student.
Ah, expanding foam. The
Ah, expanding foam. The scourge of anti-social motorists everywhere.
Particularly effective when inserted into the bean tin exhaust pipe of an illegally modified chavmobile. The resulting noise reduction is almost miraculous. ?
Thanks for the tip. Araldite
@Eton Rifle
Thanks for the tip. Araldite in the keyhole used to be my favourite before electro-mechanical locks became the norm.
Eton Rifle wrote:
Things have moved on since Axel Foley’s banana in the tailpipe ruse.
Maybe if his mirror gets
Maybe if his mirror gets smashed off every weekend, it’s a disgruntled ex-customer taking revenge for the crappy decorating he did?
Maybe he parks it somewhere
Maybe he parks it somewhere where it’s blocking the footpath?
Can’t be that, he’s named
Can’t be that, he’s named himself and googling his name brings up very positive reviews on Checkatrade.com
Gustave wrote:
Just like the builder I employed to remove my airing cupboard, who ripped holes in the plaster and pulled out a pipe, flooding the house? He had wonderful reviews; all written by himself.
It is considered
It is considered inappropriate to put spikes and broken glass on property walls and such-like to act as a burglary deterent, so this is no different. In fact it is worse, because it is so easy for anyone to bump into and do serious harm to themselves. Hands up all those who have never accidentally walked into a wing mirror? And that’s before we get onto those with visual disabilities.
So it is just wrong, regardless of cyclists.
IanMSpencer wrote:
This is true, which is why climbing roses are your friend.
Broken glass on top of a wall
Broken glass on top of a wall is considered “man trap” – because someone is only likely to become aware of it when they are injured. Barbed wire and razor wire seem to be legal – because the danger is plain to see – when it is contained in a private property.
Given that it is designed to cause injury, it is an offensive weapon, so possesing it in a public place (without a reasonable excuse or lawfull authority) is offence.
There is an old house that I
There is an old house that I sometimes walk past with the dog – it wouldn’t be out of place on Scooby Doo. Hugely overgrown grounds and rolls and rolls of razor wire all through the place. I mean hardly even unwound.
I do worry for the mental health of someone who thinks they need to live like this.
This has to be outright
This has to be outright criminal intent with the statements made by the owner to harm people??? Best get yourself a lawyer.
No chance he’s notified this
No chance he’s notified this to his insurer . Potentially no insurance . Doesn’t matter if he’s parked, it’s on the public road ( and pavement)
Police need to dig deeper
Wondering if the van gets
Wondering if the van gets parked on the pavement and a pedestrian (possiably with a pram/wheelchair) folds the mirror in to get past. seen it done (ahem…). Driver fed up of putting it straight. Or is driver just a violent thug? Old Bill needs to step in.
well, looking at streetview,
well, looking at streetview, it’s his neighbour who’s the worst offender when it comes to pavement parking…
HoarseMann wrote:
Looking at this picture, it appears to me that they could avoid any damage by using their nice big drives or am I missing something.
Gus T wrote:
Takes more time and effort to park on their private property, so they just leave their car in the public space instead…
Do you honestly think he
Do you honestly think he removes the spikes before driving? Every Monday morning? He’s talking shit trying to make out he doesn’t drive around with it like that, which he clearly does.
That’s a poorly conceived
That’s a poorly conceived offensive weapon.
Regardless of whether its aimed at pedestrians or cyclists whoever owns it needs to have a long hard look at themselves.
I’ll assume, being a tradesman that he’s a regular pavement parker which might give him some defence, however considering its only one mirror on the side closest to where cyclists will be, one has to assume that it’s a premeditated attempt to cause injury.
This isn’t something that can be removed easily so his measly words mean nothing.
Surely this is modifying his vehicle. I’d expect it invalidates his insurance which would put him up shit-creek should he actually hit a cyclist with it.
Assuming he has insurance or
Assuming he has insurance or hasn’t already invalidated it for non disclosure of other issues. Can’t quite see your point about pavement parking, unless it is satirical, an offence, if not in a permitted zone, ripping up the arm of a wheel chair user or child carer struggling past seems to be just as evil an intent as maiming cyclists.
He is, in fact, uninsured.
He is, in fact, uninsured.
Also no MOT!
Doesn’t matter, it is still
Doesn’t matter, it is still illegal and he will still be liable if someone – even a vandal – is injured by it.
Proper idiot.
Of course, when he talks
Of course, when he talks about ‘vandals’, what he actually means are people who are trying to get past where he’s parked on the footway and have folded his mirror back…
Door mirrors are tested
Door mirrors are tested specifically for safety when homologated. Legally there can be no projections on the outer surface that are less than 2.5mm radius. This is a dangerous modification to a safety device. Yeah, I do work for a company that makes door mirrors 🙂
Si2 wrote:
I could see myself doing that kind of job
I’ve heard those who make
I’ve heard those who make that career change never look back.
HoarseMann wrote:
definitely something you should look into
Captain Badger wrote:
well, I do need to take a cold hard look at myself 😉
HoarseMann wrote:
people who make mirrors never look back?
I suppose “don’t get high on your own supply!” is a thing
HoarseMann wrote:
They’re not using their own product?
Bit counter productive,
Bit counter productive, really – I wouldn’t take the mirror or D-lock it if it weren’t, you know, covered in spikes.
I see it, I’m smashing it off.
It’s tempting to me too to be
It’s tempting to me too to be honest, and that’s surprising to me as i’m not a violent person.