Police have been unable to trace an aggressive driver who got out of his vehicle and kicked a cyclist returning home from the school run – despite the incident being caught on film by the victim, who has expressed their frustration at the failure to bring the man to justice.
The shocking incident took place in Woolton, Liverpool in March, with the cyclist subsequently submitting footage to Merseyside Police.
The cyclist was riding a triple tandem, clearly made to take small children, when the driver of a black Range Rover cut across them at a junction.
The motorist stopped a little further up the road, and the cyclist rode over – at which point the driver got out of the vehicle and ran across the road and kicked out.
“He kicked my camera and caught my hand at the same time, I dropped the bike and then the guy in the van came and he scurried back to his car,” the cyclist, who wishes to remain anonymous, told road.cc.
In a tweet posted in late May to their Twitter account, which is now protected, the cyclist said: “Police called today, officer apologised that they had the video but never got a notification from the portal to say so. Not sure if I believe that or not.
“Anyway he asked me what direction I would like to take this incident. Started talking about the guy writing me an apology.”
Asking their followers for advice, they said: “I feel I’m being coerced into a ‘non punishment’ and not sure if I like the thought of reading a crappy apology letter anyway. What should I do?
They added: “Also the officer said although it was road rage he was a pedestrian at the time… Is that how it works?”
Last week, the cyclist tweeted again to say that police had been unable to establish who the motorist was, with the company that had leased the vehicle not responding to a request to disclose the identity of the driver.
“Merseyside Police have given up looking for this guy despite having his vehicle registration and a very good picture of his face,” they tweeted. “What can I do now if anything?
“Disappointed to hear that the lease company failed to nominate who was driving and after 6 months it is too late to prosecute. Apparently the lease company will face a fine now but I won’t hear the result of that.”
They added: “An ongoing consequence of this incident is a genuine fear of riding across this junction. Which is a real pain as its right next to my kids’ school. So we have to ride around and go in the longer way. I doubt the guy thinks much about it at all if ever.”
Reflecting on the police’s handling of the case, the cyclist told road.cc: “My tweets pretty much sum it up, but it was an initial oversight of not watching the video for two months until I contacted them to ask what is happening then a little scurrying of action then they ran the clock out waiting for a sub-leasing company to reply, which they never did.
“They never informed me it was a summary offence,” the cyclist added. “If I’d known this, I would have posted the video months ago.”
53 thoughts on “Video: Aggressive driver kicks school run cyclist – but police can’t find driver”
If this had been a cyclist
If this had been a cyclist attacking a motorist the police would have been all over it. This says very clearly that the Merseyside police don’t care about cyclists. Given the serious lack of competence and their multiple failures, I hope the cyclist has made an official complaint. This was an assault which could have had serious consequences, and it is extremely likely that the odious driver has done it before and will do it again, especially if he realises he’s going to get away with it.
I don’t know how much the lease company will be fined for refusing to disclose the identity of the driver, but it should be in the order of £10k, enough to make sure they don’t do it again, and given the public interest in this crime, a repeat offence should see them closed down.
eburtthebike wrote:
The Daily Heil would have lapped it up if it had been a cyclist being the aggressor. I do tend to feel that anyone driving a big black 4×4 is very likely to be a c8nt.
This should convince all those that want cyclists to have registration plates what a great argument they have…
That’s a clear case of
That’s a clear case of assault and it’s left the victim with a lasting fear of being attacked near that junction. I think Merseyside police have done a terrible job with this and should clearly do better.
hawkinspeter wrote:
I agree, it seems Merseyside fuzz have betrayed this individual.
Sadly the ongoing fear of being attacked will extend far beyond a single junction, it will be on the cyclist’s mind every time they swing a leg over their bike.
If this had been a cyclist
If this had been a cyclist attacking a motorist the police would have been all over it. This says very clearly that the Merseyside police don’t care about cyclists.
…the first thing that comes to mind when seeing a human being beaten up in a most appalling way by this monster…!?
I was assaulted by a driver a
I was assaulted by a driver a couple of weeks ago infront of three seperate independent witnesses in their cars who gave details to pass to the police along with license plate. Police couldn’t investigate as had no resources. Unless it’s a very serious crime, DV or child abuse it’s pretty pointless reporting anything it seems.
DabuDabu wrote:
They’ll pursue a hate crime or a racist slur like they’re canadian mounties.
anke wrote:
Almost like this sort of thing did happen occasionally – indeed had previously been reported here. And has reportedly been experienced by people on this forum. So that’s probably why people aren’t just spitting out their tea over the newspaper in incomprehension that such a fiend in human form could exist.
I’m happy that the UK is a pretty safe place but “road rage” certainly occurs and there certainly are a proportion of people who quickly resort to violence if vexed.
I would think – especially to an overloaded police force – reports (indeed evidence) of violence and threatening behaviour on the roads would be a great opportunity to do some targetted policing. As has been said the likelihood is this chap is not a “person of good character with an unblemished record” and more may come to light. I don’t have any issue with the police using a bit of stop and search on someone displaying this kind of behaviour.
I like to think the police
I like to think the police aren’t incompetent but just up to their eyeballs with other stuff. They’re understaffed and things slip through the net, but even so, it’s not good enough. Totally get that this guy now avoids that junction, which doesn’t look too cycle friendly anyway, while the aggressor carries on untroubled by the incident. Surely someone recognises him?
alchemilla wrote:
Nope they are incompetent. As for being short staffed, isnt that always the cry from the lazy.
Incredibly aggressive
Incredibly aggressive behaviour from the driver, pretty scary.
Hats off to the van driver for rushing in there, I dread to think what would have happened if his response wasn’t as swift.
Horrible to see this, what an
Horrible to see this, what an ‘ankles’!
Serious assault, clear intent
Serious assault, clear intent to harm
Merseyside Police: Now say sorry and shake hands…
FFS
This is a most nasty form of
I don’t care about the mode of transport here – this is a most nasty form of assault!
It cannot not be true that assault can no longer be prosecuted after 6 months if such strong evidence is available – can it?
If he’d only used his car
If he’d only used his car instead of his foot he wouldn’t have had to wait so long to be off the hook… “Sorry – nowhere to send a NIP to…”. Back after a 14 day holiday!
If only cars were registered
If only cars were registered in a way that enabled the police to trace and prosecute drivers who committed offences.
The car is apparently
The car is apparently (presumably along with the driver) not in the UK any more.
Difficult to get a vehicle
Difficult to get a vehicle across the Channel without having its number plate read and recorded multiple times, so would have been easy enough to flag the car, given the will.
I’d be extremely surprised if the bloke was not associated with other infractions.
ZaphodsSpareHead wrote:
Don’t worry, the poor car being subjected to the Kafkan bureaucratic nightmare that pertains on the continent is more than punishment enough!
You can use Google Image
You can use Google Image Search to search for similar photos, you might get lucky and track down a Facebook profile for the scrote
It’s hard to see on my tiny
It’s hard to see on my tiny phone. But it looks like the cyclist simply took the shortcut out of the carpark/school and arrived at the junction a bit ahead of the 4x4driver but had to wait in line so the driver caught up. ? That was enough to infuriate them to threaten to kill someone. They were going nowhere even if the trike wasn’t there, there’s another massive 4×4 in front ? That then manifested in a physical assault, which could have been worse if the van driver wasn’t there. The man is unhinged and needs locking up before it is worse ?
With his reg and clear
With his reg and clear picture, this is police can’t be arsed. Note to villains, lease your getaway car and you’ll be away scott free.
The car and driver apparently
The car and driver apparently aren’t in the UK. Unless you want them to invade Spain, there unfortunately isn’t much they can do
Nigel Garage wrote:
Always the fault of those pesky europeans eh?
wycombewheeler wrote:
It’s a good job we’re now finally in control of our borders unlike the bad old days where we were literally under the thrall of the CJEU while being powerless to keep out rogues like this, stop them fleeing or chase them beyond the UK!
Nigel Garage wrote:
Sorry, am I missing something? Where does it say that?
There was a photo of the car
There was a photo of the car in Marbella according to twitter – https://twitter.com/CyclingHull/status/1450926639064489985
Nigel Garage wrote:
Thanks – though if that’s the only evidence of it being abroad, it doesn’t mean it is now.
No, but it’s a start.
No, but it’s a start.
Steve K wrote:
Even crims can go on holiday.
As Nigel points out the car
As Nigel points out the car seems to have been in Marbella since this incident. But with his reg and a decent mug shot available, it should have been easy to stop him at the ports. I don’t suppose they issue a ports watch for every minor skirmish, but somehow I doubt this was his only offence.
https://www.autogespot.com/land-rover-range-rover-sport-svr-2018-2/2021/09/16
Where are you reading that ?
Where are you reading that ?
OK so it was there at some point but that isn’t to say it is still there. Or am I missing something ?
Just a little runaround anyway.
Follow the link.
I’m just saying it would have been trivially easy to detain the guy, had they wanted to. Difficult to get through the ports without having your number plate scanned numerous times, etc.
And if he’s not returned yet, well the opportunity is still there to pick him up on his return.
That just mentions it was
That just mentions it was seen on 16/09.
How is it known it is still there ?
I didn’t say he’s still there
I didn’t say he’s still there. Only that the opportunity to apprehend him was. If he is still there, better still. He’ll have to return, via a port, eventually, and the police are now without excuse.
That makes sense – thanks
That makes sense – thanks (there were 2 ways to read your opening sentence)
It’s just a little runaround anyhow
Topspeed 282 KM/H
Acceleration 0-100 KM/H 4.30 s
Power 575 hp
Torque 516 Nm @ 3500 RPM
Weight 2310 kg
So presumably this guy leases
So presumably this guy leases the RR through his own company so has no good reason to identify himself as the driver? Great work, police
Looking at that healthy and
Looking at that healthy and very fit young man, by the look of his neat hair cut he is either in the Army, Navy or the Airforce but more like as not the Police force, that is why the slow action took place and no charges. The Mersey Police should be investigated ASAP!
Anyone else think the van
Anyone else think the van driver was a bit unhinged too?! Didn’t seem to need much persuasion to drive hard down the wrong side of the road, skid to a halt and get involved.
Not that this has any bearing on the kicking, but I’m also struggling to get my head around the events leading up to it. I think the cyclist is complaining that the driver squeezes past to get onto the main road. Is that the start of the argument (in which case, what a spectacularly short fuse he’s got), or was this a continuation of some previous incident [EDIT: still not ok]?
quiff wrote:
I agree. But this happened in Liverpool …
Seems that all the Police are
Seems that all the Police are good for today is ignoring real crime because it is too much effort for them, penalising motorists for just going over the speed limit and raping and abusing women…
Nw Rang Rover, jogging
New Range Rover, jogging bottoms, low class… my guess a drug dealer. Known to the police no doubt, maybe even one of them.
In all fairness, tracksuit
In all fairness to the police, a description of “tracksuit bottoms” probably doesn’t narrow down the range of suspects very much
But a full profile photo,
But a full profile photo, taken from a video screenshot does – see above.
It really wouldn’t have taken much for the local police to put an appeal on their Twitter, as some one locally would know who he was.
bikeman01 wrote:
I thought something similar, an informer perhaps?
Obviously, the driver is in
Obviously, the driver is in the wrong and can’t be defended at all, but I wonder what on Earth the cyclist thought they would gain from following him and provoking an already angry driver. Nastiness and aggression from the driver but naïveté and lack of common sense from the cyclist. If you’re chasing an aggressive driver is it now ok to ride on a pavement?
As there was a car parked on
As there was a car parked on the pavement, he thought it was fair game to cycle!
He likely thought with the traffic, he was safe on the other side of the road and they could just shout at one another.
99% of the time it would have been ok.
Rawstron1 wrote:
TFTFY
That is crazy, what is the
That is crazy, what is the matter with some people.
> police can’t find driver
> police can’t find driver
I think “police fail to find driver” is more correct.
Or maybe police know exactly
Or maybe police know exactly who driver is and wait until they have more serious charges to get him
Easy to find an insured
Easy to find an insured driver. Pull registration, request driver details, which have photo ID. Police and DVLA
The police will generally
The police will generally ‘run down the clock’ if they can when it’s an offence they don’t care about. The point about the police suggesting ‘an apology’ rings true- does it work for speeding? I am supposed to be seeing an officer this weekend- he has asked for the meeting but he has the complete evidence on video of the BMW driver threatening to ‘fucking flatten’ me and ‘you will get knocked off’, so what’s it about? I have a suspicion it’s going to be a ‘he didn’t mean it and apologises’ talk. I am, of course, not interested in any apology from a monumentally insincere nutter aggressive BMW driver- but if the PC starts any of this ‘evidential difficulties’ tripe, I’ll know they have planned to do nothing from the day of the offence almost 3 months ago!