Bike theft and violence

That particualr portion of Victoria park has been a known dodgy are for a long time;

Thread:
http://www.lfgss.com/thread15525.html

My own experience:
http://www.lfgss.com/post481717-142.html
http://www.lfgss.com/post481727-146.html

Hope the victim heals up, mentally as well as physically.

lived in london - kilburn, edgware road, stepney green and bethnal green none of which could be called sheltered areas - all my life and this is still massively shocking.

This really.

I have lived in East, West and now South London - and not the most salubrious of parts either - and I find this story and that it is perhaps not so uncommon quite shocking.

Having said that, a couple of weeks ago, a group of yoofs (about 5 of them aged between 14-16) between Oval & Camberwell tried tried to stop the missus, who was in front of me at the time, saying "Stop and search". I pulled out from behind the missus, told her to carry on riding and told the one I thought looked like the ringleader to go forth and multiply in no uncertain terms. They fucked off and we went home.

This sort of stuff makes me look at encounters like that in a slightly different light.

Stay safe all.

http://content.met.police.uk/Appeal/29-year-old-victim-was-stabbed-in-the-chest-during-robbery/1400011291073/1257246745782?scope_id=1257246763910

Hackney Appeals
29 year old victim was stabbed in the chest during robbery

04 September 2012

Appeal type
Crime
Incident Date
25th August 2012

Incident Location
Victoria Park E9

Description
On Saturday 25th August 2012 police were called to Victoria Park E9 to reports of a robbery at knife point.

At about 19.45 hours a 29 year old man was cycling home from work. As he entered the park from Gore Road E9, the North West entrance to the park he was approached by three men, two were on bikes and one was walking.

The males grabbed hold of him and his bike and demanded the bike. They immediately pulled the victim off his bike and to the floor kicking him. As one of the suspects climbed onto the victim's bike, the victim tried to grab his bike, as he did the suspect turned and stabbed the victim in the centre of his chest.

The group then all cycled off towards the Gore Road exit and split up. One of the men cycled east towards Grove Road and the other two headed west towards Morpeth Road/ Skipworth Road.

Members of the public who were in the park quickly came to the victim’s assistance calling police and an ambulance. Having received a single stab wound to the chest the victim was taken by ambulance to an East London Hospital where he was treated for his injury before being released on Monday.

The suspects are described as three males, one light skinned black male aged between 15 and 18 years old wearing black jogging bottoms, a black hoodie and a green baseball cap. The two other males were dark skinned black males both aged between 16 and 20 years old and both wearing all black. When they approached the victim two of the group were on push bikes and one was walking. When they left the scene having stolen the victims bike all three were cycling.

The victims bike was a Claud Butler Urban 200 Hybrid with medium toe clips that had a fabric adjuster and silver spring buckles on the peddles. (Image attached is of a standard Claud Butler Urban 200 Hybrid bike)

DC Richard Coe, of the Robbery Squad at Bethnal Green police said; "The victim in this matter has been incredibly lucky that the injuries were not more severe. It is no exaggeration to say that the stabbing was millimetres away from causing life threatening injuries.

The victim has shown a remarkable response in dealing with this traumatic event and we appeal for any information that can help us identify these highly dangerous individuals."

Anyone with information should contact the Robbery Squad at Bethnal Green Police Station or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

I was riding there with 2 other oriental lads about 2 weeks a go in Victoria Park. A group of 8 11-15 year olds shouted from 1 metre away that they wanted our bikes. I am not a type to keep quiet and neither is my sisters boyfriend. We jumped off shouting shit and said come and take it blah blah and scared the fuck out of them. We rode off once we saw they were intimidated. Come to think of it, we came off lucky to not get stabbed. I would warn anyone that rides there, to ride fast and with a large group.

knife also used in this bike theft:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/robbery-at-knife-point-on-trans-pennine-trail-rother-valley-country-park

I cycle along the canal everyday that skirts along Victoria park all year round.
This makes me feel sick.

Horrific incident. I lived in Haringey and Hackney (specifically nearby Vicky ParK) for long periods of my youth, you could not pay me to live again around that neck of the woods.

C'mon that's a lazy thing to say.....

There wasn't any information out there about the attack. We were alerted by the police yesterday, the day after the cyclist was discharged from hospital.

You will notice there is never a shortage of reporting attacks or bike accidents in local press.

This kind of story rarely makes news. A friend of mine was accosted in Vicky Park a few years back at night (he was with pals). The assailant actually cut him at the throat leaving a pretty ugly scar. He was caught too after a cabby picked him up and clocked the knife. Never convicted though and not a drop of coverage by local media. Thoughts to the rider. Stay safe.

Sparky may correct me, but I think for such a story to be picked up more widely, it first has to go into local media, e.g. Hackney Gazette, East London Advertiser.

Not necessarily, even as a small local news website, we sometimes break news that not only Hackney Gazette doesn't have, but also mainstream media.

This kind of story rarely makes news. A friend of mine was accosted in Vicky Park a few years back at night (he was with pals). The assailant actually cut him at the throat leaving a pretty ugly scar. He was caught too after a cabby picked him up and clocked the knife. Never convicted though and not a drop of coverage by local media. Thoughts to the rider. Stay safe.

We don't know if we are not contacted about it or police PR haven't alerted us.

It's for the victim to come forward and talk if he wants to. For the record, I've made it clear that I'll look into it if he wants me to. I hope he's healing up well.

gonna avoid late-night cycling through the park now, cycled past the incident spot last Saturday, luckily didn't see anything suspicious;

We don't know if we are not contacted about it or police PR haven't alerted us.

Frankly you know shit. Most of it if kids on kids. They'd never report theft nor stabbings anyway.

Frankly you know shit. Most of it if kids on kids. They'd never report theft nor stabbings anyway.

Which is a great relief to the police, I suspect. Imagine the spike in statistics if everybody started reporting every crime.

Judging by the scale of last year's riots there might be some kind of communication breakdown.

^Unfortunate choice of name- given your experience.

Ha, too true. I was also wearing my most aggressive t-shirt with a load of different sharks on it, which failed to intimidate them in any way. So as an FYI, 5 sharks is not enough sharks to intimidate a gang of youths.

The weirdest part of the whole ordeal was when I was being given the guided tour of my neighbourhood by the undercover cops; the sheer amount of people on the streets, normal unassuming see-them-every-day people, and I mean this was about every third person, at just 11.30 on a Thursday night on a busy-ish road, was known to them. Cheery waves or one finger salutes passed back and forth. Crazy.

Guess I'm more lucky that it took this long for anything to actually happen and I got off so lightly in comparison. Mental. Hope the poor rider heals up fast.

Horrific incident. I lived in Haringey and Hackney (specifically nearby Vicky ParK) for long periods of my youth, you could not pay me to live again around that neck of the woods.

Funny though. I'vd in Vikki Park for 7 years now. Even if I won the jackpot I wouldn't move. Even with incidents like this occurring.

Whoa! That's ridiculous! I can't believe how easily some people are willing to use knives.

Good luck to the stabbed guy and hope the scum bags get what they deserve!

Where in the park was it?

neilp, I'm not sure, why? I can find out if necessary.

For everyone wondering where it happened, it happened in the area between the canal and the St Agnes Gate entrance from Gore Road.

Yes, that's where the attacks have always happened, but they used to be late at night (a couple of forumengers who used to live in the area had trouble with that) and not at 7pm.

I guess that answers the question of why it's important to know where the attack happened. It's good for people to be aware of potential trouble and just take a different route.

We should make a forum map of bike-muggers favourite spots.

good idea, Goog map?