Robbers on bikes

[singalto]

I attended a self defence class nearly 30 years ago and we were advised to scream ?fire? all those years ago..

[Jcon123]

birnehelene Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hope the cyclist is ok. My partner saw several

> people being arrested in townley road and

> Woodwarde Road at 1pm today. So hopefully they got

> them all.

What was the description of the people your partner witnessed being arrested at 1pm today?

[JohnL]

singalto Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I attended a self defence class nearly 30 years

> ago and we were advised to scream ?fire? all those

> years ago..

Except we're all asked to stay in our flats in the event of fire.

I just make a lot of noise. I remember "I'll rip your heads off" shouted so loud it would have woken up the devil (they were teenagers armed with sticks though - so probably easily intimidated).

[yeknomyeknom]

There was an opo bike dumped on the rye last night.

[jimbo1964]

yeknomyeknom Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> There was an opo bike dumped on the rye last

> night.

A sure sign of underhand activity.

[se22cat]

Horrible to hear what happened, it seems violent bike thefts are increasingly common, have heard the quiet line between Peckham library that goes through Burgess Park has been the scene of several bike muggings this year too. This got posted on the news today too.

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-merseyside-45453786/manchester-cyclist-dragged-across-road-during-mugging

[singalto]

Unsettling to see people filming rather than helping...

[Shaila Shah]

I wonder if I saw the same guys two evenings ago...on their bikes and riding on the pavement, and fast, on Friern Road, at the corner of Goodrich. Very unsettling.

[alice]

Most boys in that age group have bikes. Seeing boys on bikes means nothing. Posting something that happened in Manchester means less.

[se22cat]

Try to go easy on the vitriol flavoured gin : )

[rendelharris]

Be careful out there folks: just riding back from watching the Tour of Britain, coming off the end of the Surrey Canal path and crossing the plaza in front of Peckham library, a little scrote on a (doubtless stolen) yellow hire bike tried to force me to fall off by swerving in front of me, then doubled back and did the same to my wife. Fortunately we're both quite useful bike handlers and can accelerate away quickly so no harm done; when I looked back he had several mates with him waiting on the sidelines, presumably to grab the bike of anyone who does fall. Bloody brazen in broad daylight. I did call the police and they promised to send a car, but I think they saw me calling and will doubtless be long gone before anyone gets there. I don't want to put anyone off cycling, just saying keep your eyes open and, just as when riding in traffic, always be aware of where your best escape routes are if things get ugly.

[Sue]

Hope you and your wife are OK and not too shaken, rendelharris.

[rendelharris]

Absolutely fine thanks Sue, just an annoyance that you can't ride your bike on a lovely sunny Sunday afternoon without having to take the ne'erdowells into account!

[jimbo1964]

horrible. I had my Brompton stolen in a similat pincer movement earlier in the year which now makes me generally nervous of youths on bikes. I use the canal path but may avoid now.

[Angelina]

That's horrible. Terrifying to think that cyclists are being ambushed - worse still, during daylight hours.

[zerkalo]

jimbo1964 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> horrible. I had my Brompton stolen in a similat

> pincer movement earlier in the year which now

> makes me generally nervous of youths on bikes. I

> use the canal path but may avoid now.

The same nearly happened to me on the Q1 cycle path near the old Hartley's factory earlier this year. Also on a Brompton. I use the Surrey canal path too, so thank you all for flagging this here.

[ED209]

The yell "FIRE" instead of "HELP" (or "RAPE") theory is just something that a New York Times editor made up in 1964 and it has been spouted as fact without any evidence to suggest its true by many police departments and self help teachers ever since.

http://www.crime-safety-security.com/kitty-genovese-article-bank.html

[jimbo1964]

Yes. I was on the Q1.. Near the Hartley factory. In February.

[se22cat]

Very sorry to hear about yet more people in ED experiencing bike crime : (

Having a nice bike has become something of a status symbol amongst kids these days, it was seemingly only the local weed delivery mules that rode obviously stolen bikes up until a few years ago.

It seems the food chain these days is now:

Stolen Boris Bike slow, heavy and easily spotted by police (a rare, endangered species, sometimes heard, but rarely ever seen in SE London) now seen us unfashionable,

Moving up to stolen OFO bike, probably only takes a few minutes if that to disable, as the police know they can be parked anywhere in London, less suspicious, "everyone is doing it" and have become something of a status symbol. You can't do tricks or wheelies with them very well, too heavy and they look uncool so only a temporary solution.

Fixie bikes or flashy carbon fibre road bikes, a clear status symbol of street urchins everywhere, it's obviously been stolen, they would have almost certainly sold the first couple at Brick Lane market to get money in their pocket, so not their first stolen bike if they are riding it.

Dirtbags have the internet too, so they know which bikes, like Bromptons sell for the most, and with zero police on the streets in many areas, just a slap on the wrist for the first time they are caught, and laughable sentences the second time around it's no surprise things have got out of hand.

The parent/s are absolutely complicit in this type of crime, even someone half blind can tell there's no way they would get a nice looking bike for a few quid. And with those OFO bikes, surely even the most braindead parent would realise they don't come for free.

I have to say that the general level of bike locking in ED is pretty atrocious, and with kids seeing locked bikes as a convenient spares resource, as can be seen on the video below, hope to see people doing a better job of it.

This is staged as hell, but still a satisfying watch

https://youtu.be/VnpmYps8xK8?t=17

[jimbo1964]

It's a drag. I've never felt vulnerable before. But now I'm quite nervous riding my Brompton. I keep my good road bike strictly for weekend rides out to the sticks.

[missyelliott]

This makes me so sad to read. I cycle back through the canal path as well. So now I feel I need to take a new route. You think cycling is the best means to get from A to B to collect your kids in time. Seems I am stuck between crap Thameslink trains and now bike mugging threats!

[jimbo1964]

A bit of police presence wouldn't go amiss.

[mrwb]

Closing so many police stations and reducing police numbers one of the most short sighted decisions in recent times. That along with PC directed policing priorities, and all the BS and bureaucracy the police have to deal with.

Can only hope future government reverse the madness and that any money put in to it doesn't just go to massive salaries for the people at the top. More frontline police needed aimed at dealing with the crime that actually has an effect on the daily lives of most of the population.

[Sally Eva]

missyelliott Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> This makes me so sad to read. I cycle back through

> the canal path as well. So now I feel I need to

> take a new route. You think cycling is the best

> means to get from A to B to collect your kids in

> time. Seems I am stuck between crap Thameslink

> trains and now bike mugging threats!

There is an alternative to the Canal Path using Sumner Road -- it's part of the old London Cycling Network and plans are in hand to improve it again.

A lot depends on where you are going of course. If you PM me and tell me your approx start and finish points I can suggest a route.

[Sue]

Home Office ignorant of strain on police after cuts, says watchdog

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/sep/11/home-office-ignorant-of-strain-on-police-after-cuts-says-watchdog?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard