Police in Gloucestershire are investigating an attempted robbery which saw a teenage cyclist stopped on a canal towpath, before being threatened with a plastic handgun and stabbed as he attempted to ride away.
Fortunately, Gloucestershire Police explained the victim, a 16-year-old boy, was able to ride away from his attacker but suffered a “small wound” when the suspect, described as a boy aged between 12 and 14, stabbed the fleeing rider with a knife.
The attempted robbery happened on a canal towpath close to Queen Elizabeth Field in Stroud at around 3.45pm on Thursday 21 August. A police appeal states the teenage cyclist was riding his bicycle along the canal towpath when he was stopped by the suspect.
The teenager was told to hand over his bike and, when he refused, was threatened with a knife and plastic handgun which was pulled from the suspect’s trousers. When the cyclist tried to ride away the suspect stabbed him in the leg, police saying the attack “caused a small wound and a rip to his trousers”.
A spokesperson for Gloucestershire Police said: “Following a number of enquiries, officers are now asking the public for any information which could help identify the suspect. He is described as being white with an olive tan, and was reported to have been aged between 12 and 14. He was around 5ft 5in in height and of a skinny build. He was covering his face with a balaclava.
“The incident happened at around 3.45pm on Thursday 21 August. Anybody with information is asked to contact Gloucestershire Police through the website, quoting incident 384 of 21 August: https://www.gloucestershire.police.uk/contact/af/contact-us/us/a-crime-that-has-already-been-reported/”
Bikejacking and robberies targeting cyclists have become concerningly common in the UK in recent years. Safety on towpaths is also a near-constant discussion point, especially during the darker winter months.
Numerous cyclists across south London and the border with Surrey and Kent were targeted in a spate of robberies which saw moped-riding bikejackers threaten victims with “foot-long knives” and other weapons.
In one widely reported incident in south west London a few years ago, professional cyclist Alexandar Richardson, then a teammate of Mathieu van der Poel at WorldTour outfit Alpecin-Deceuninck, was knocked off his bike and threatened by a gang with a machete.
Numerous incidents on canal towpaths have also been reported and sparked calls for lighting, cameras and other security measures at various sites across the UK.
While the public have called for the authorities to make routes more accessible and safer for users by tackling crime, there was disbelief back in 2023 when police in Birmingham advised a cyclist to avoid a canal route in future, that after he was hit with a hammer during a “brutal” bike robbery.
There were several similar incidents reported on that canal or other nearby towpaths, the police’s response to recommend the victim avoids using the route in future leaving him asking: “What sort of message does that send out?”
One similar route, while not a canal towpath, is the Bristol and Bath Railway Path, a cycling and walking connection between the two cities which follows a former railway. There have been robbery and other crime fears on it for years, some even saying — amid a recent spate of violent bikejackings — that they “feel safer between buses and cars” than on the “Wild West” route.
In December, South Gloucestershire Council announced a £1m upgrade, including extensive CCTV cameras. Earlier in 2024, following reports of bikejackings, the council had installed some initial CCTV, a move which saw a robber caught by police within 24 hours and presumably only served to encourage more proactive action by the local authority.
