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Police appeal after cyclist assaulted in Luton, with attackers threatening to cut victim’s legs off

Unprovoked attack happened in Leagrave area last Thursday

Police have launched an appeal after a cyclist was assaulted in Luton, with his attackers threatening to cut his legs off if he returned to the area.

The incident happened as the cyclist, a man aged in his 60s and who lives locally, was cycling along Ely Way in the Leagrave area of the town last Thursday morning between 8.30 and 9am.

Bedfordshire Police say that the cyclist was approached by two men in a 4x4-style vehicle, with its registration ending with the letters KBU.

The men, both described as white, punched the cyclist in the face and threatened to cut his legs off if they saw him in the area again.

Investigating officer PC Paul Mahon commented: “This was a shocking and seemingly unprovoked attack which has left the victim with really nasty injuries.

“If anyone was in the area at the time, potentially recognises the description of the vehicle, or has any other information which could help with our enquiries, please get in touch with us.”

Anyone who has information is asked to contact police on 101 quoting reference 40/47101/19 or the charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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9 comments

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Wiltsrider | 4 years ago
0 likes

If the victim wasn't on a bike it wouldn't even appear in this site.
Just more fear mongering by road.cc to generate more of a 'them Vs us' mentality, like the near miss of the day.
Then they run a 'general public scare off cycling on roads' or 'road wars' story and wonder why cycling is actually decreasing in the U.K.

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giskard | 4 years ago
2 likes

‪Doctor driven out of home by vigilantes https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/aug/30/childprotection.society

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Stef Marazzi | 4 years ago
0 likes

Hate crime. Channel 5 has blood on their hands too.

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AlsoSomniloquism replied to Stef Marazzi | 4 years ago
4 likes

cyclesteffer wrote:

Hate crime. Channel 5 has blood on their hands too.

If they had said "yer da scourge of the streets", then I would agree they should be looked at, but the reality is so many public figures, programmes and newspapers have anti cycling stories that it could be anything. 

And not that it is right, but could they have confused this specific man for someone who has other previous nefarious means to be in the area. The being a cyclist might not have been the reason for the attack.

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brooksby replied to AlsoSomniloquism | 4 years ago
3 likes

AlsoSomniloquism wrote:

And not that it is right, but could they have confused this specific man for someone who has other previous nefarious means to be in the area. The being a cyclist might not have been the reason for the attack.

My first thought was to wonder if we had a pair of self-styled vigilantes on our hands - you know, like those people you read about who spend their (otherwise unemployed) days hunting down paedophiles (or paediatric nurses, in one renowned case - I mean, it has "paed" in it ) or people they think are paedophiles, or just people they think are "different". 

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dobbo996 replied to brooksby | 4 years ago
3 likes

brooksby wrote:

AlsoSomniloquism wrote:

And not that it is right, but could they have confused this specific man for someone who has other previous nefarious means to be in the area. The being a cyclist might not have been the reason for the attack.

My first thought was to wonder if we had a pair of self-styled vigilantes on our hands - you know, like those people you read about who spend their (otherwise unemployed) days hunting down paedophiles (or paediatric nurses, in one renowned case - I mean, it has "paed" in it ) or people they think are paedophiles, or just people they think are "different". 

I recall the incident. Wasn't it a paediatrician they went after? Talk about thick.

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Stef Marazzi | 4 years ago
8 likes

Hate crime. Channel 5 has blood on their hands too.

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Rick_Rude replied to Stef Marazzi | 4 years ago
0 likes

cyclesteffer wrote:

Hate crime. Channel 5 has blood on their hands too.

Not so sure about connecting the dots for every case of this sort of thing. If it was so simple then beer companies should paying out compensation for all the aggro in life that booze causes and Top Gear would inspire every case of dangerous driving. 

People have been getting attacked by people since we weren't even people. Probably just one of those things rather someone sitting infront of their TV seething with hatred and waiting to act. Since the programme was on a while ago any mouth-breathers will probably have forgotten about it now anyway. 

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ChrisB200SX | 4 years ago
6 likes

Needs to be treated as a hate crime.

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