A Glasgow man who stopped to help a stranger fix a bike quickly got a shock when he realised it was his own one.
John Devlin, aged 64, was on his way home from a night shift when he encountered Paul Hartey, who shortly beforehand had broken into his shed and stolen the bike, reports Glasgow Live.
As Mr Devlin, who lives in Drumchapel, helped repair the bike’s handlebars, he realised it was his own due to stickers on it, as well as having his helmet attached to it.
He said to Hartey, “That’s mine!” before chasing the thief down the street.
Appearing at Glasgow Sheriff Court, Hartey, aged 46, admitted stealing the bike on 18 June this year through forcing Mr Devlin’s shed open.
He also pleaded guilty to possession of a knife without reasonable excuse or lawful authority.
Mr Devlin’s wife, Linda, had spotted that the shed door was broken, with possessions strewn around, when she woke up at 6.30am. Her husband headed home from work 10 minutes later.
Shona Howie, prosecuting, said: “He saw Hartey on the street looking like he is trying to fix a bike on his hands and knees.
“Mr Devlin stopped and said, ‘Do you need a hand? I will help you fix it’.
“As he tried to fix it, Mr Devlin recognised stickers and helmet attached to the bike.
“He recognised it to be his bike and said ‘That’s my bike’.”
Hartey drew a knife on Mr Devlin and made off, with Mr Devlin following him.
He was subsequently arrested after a call was put in to 999.
Defending Hartey, Keith Tuck said his client could not remember the incident and had been under the influence of drugs at the time.
Hartey was jailed by Sheriff Johanna Johnston QC for 15 months.
Yeah, it's definitely a deep down instinct that probably comes from our territorial primate background....
That first pic, with the fork dropouts resting on bare concrete...makes the perfectionist in me cry 😭
50x11 @ 100rpm on 26mn tyres is ish 36mph , 52 chainring would be 4% more ish 1.4mph - 37.4mph...
In which case you know how vulnerable cyclists are, you know how to overtake cyclist and, more importantly, how not to overtake them....
Heretic! That's not a bicycle!...
The disparity in the image quality between Mark and Mike's images is stark....
What about Miguel Indurain?
Wow! I dream of getting 6,000km out of a chain! My bike has only just cleared 5,000km...
Maybe we need to take a note out of the drivists playbook and label the lack of secure bike storage as discriminatory against the disabled
Well, I passed this lot yesterday and they seemed to be enjoying the ride... (apparently it was the national chopper convention or something!).