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Car keys and drain (copyright John Stevenson)Police hunt Phantom Key Snatcher of Bolton Abbey
Police have issued an appeal to track down the cyclist involved in a road rage incident with a BBC radio presenter near Bolton Abbey on June 26. Radio Leeds host Nick Ahad was left stranded when his keys were taken and had to be towed to a nearby car park by a ranger employed by the Duke of Devonshire's estate.
We at road.cc have previously been contacted by both parties involved. Ahad said he is not someone who has any issues with cyclists and argued that the initial incident came about purely because the man in question was riding dangerously.
We also received an anonymous email from someone identifying themselves only as “The Phantom Key Snatcher” who said that Ahad was driving dangerously. “Either it was criminally bad driving or he was actually trying to hit me deliberately,” he wrote.
What both agree on is that the cyclist took Ahad’s keys from the ignition and rode off with them. There has also been an account of a second cyclist being chased by another driver in a case of mistaken identity in the aftermath of the incident.
The Phantom Key Snatcher says he no longer has the keys having dropping them after a few hundred yards after hitting a rough patch of road.
Yesterday, North Yorkshire Police put out a description of the cyclist. He is described as having a skinny build, about 5ft 10ins, white with a dark complexion, speaking English. He was riding a black and red racing bike and wearing a black cycling top and shorts with a red and black helmet.
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
Latest Comments
- ktache 1 hour 42 min ago
The small frame, the aggressive posture, lots of standover height.
- mctrials23 2 hours 38 min ago
As i've said before, the police should be sued for a lot of money when someone they have knowingly ignored has gone on to commit a serious crime....
- David9694 2 hours 46 min ago
'Bad parking' blocks firefighters multiple times on same emergency call-out...
- David9694 2 hours 50 min ago
Cambridgeshire boy, 13, crashes Audi into garden wall after taking it from home...
- Adam Sutton 3 hours 35 min ago
Good stuff. Now do it on cycleway C9 through Hammersmith to Chiswick.
- mark1a 3 hours 44 min ago
It's technically allowed but it's not known as "London's Orbital Car Park" for nothing.
- Dogless 4 hours 53 min ago
You're defending bombing hospitals and refugee camps and starving children.
- mattw 7 hours 33 min ago
Used car salesman is a complete attention-seeking plank....
- tubasti 7 hours 50 min ago
I don't know if they're any better, but they's certainly become more boring.
- FionaJJ 8 hours 16 min ago
At risk of being cynical, and stereotyping the police, it's so they don't have to leave the comfort of their panda cars and pursue on foot when...
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23 comments
I'm the phantom key snatcher and so is my wife!
I think they have narrowed it down. Here is the police identity parade.
bmc.jpg
Maybe we all need to start cycling in V for Vendetta masks.
"I am the Phantom Key Snatcher!"
"No - I am the Phantom Key Snatcher!"
"No: it is I who is the Phantom Key Snatcher!!"
(repeats)
This is getting ridiculous.
Police = please fade in to the background and let this be the end of it, before you inflame the whole unfortunate incident even more.
I am sure both individuals now wish they had both merrily gone on their own way on the day in question.
anyway, never mind the nazis, I filmed this today which probably reflects what happened:
https://youtu.be/TgmN4k12xEM
a motorist was so enraged by me and my son riding 2 abreast along a quiet wide road, he actually stopped in the middle of the road to tell us it was illegal ... he hadn't been held up until he decided to stop. Incidents like this are just so illogical they are hard to be believe without actual video proof. Obviously its a completely different incident, but it does make you question some drivers judgement of what they consider a hazard vs the way they react to it ...
Words just can't cover it..
*facepalm*
Proceeds to go into it again.
I would like to invite you in the most sincere fashion to fuck off. I'm not just being rude, I really mean it.
And if that's not enough for you the only other people to apply the Collective Responsibility argument were the Nazis during WW2.
So please, go away you nazi and make sure that you give yourself a good hard one while doing it.
Godwins Law has been invoked. This thread is now closed.
Wow, so you are accusing me of being a Nazi. I suppose you are the absolute authority on right and wrong and judged it all based on two peoples I did a little bit wrong but he did more wrong than me version of events?
Collective responsibility argument, not quite. He is not responsible for all cyclists is he, like nick isn't responsible for all drivers. And I never claimed he was ( but good effort are trying to insinuate it ). I pointed out that by his own admittance he's done something wrong, and by his ridiculous victimisation argument of why he won't identify himself he is not doing cyclists a favour as it just strengthens the view cyclists are unaccountable to the law by motorists.
Anyway, if you want to continue calling me names over the Internet for virtual reputation, crack on. Its a shame free speech is used not to promote sensible reasonable arguments but to try and insult someone from the safety of their keyboard.
Two wrongs don't make a right ( however three lefts do ).
I won't go into it again, as my points were raised in previous articles. But ultimately our key snatcher put himself into a risky position whether he intended to or not, and I think he should own up to his actions to the police. I think if he doesn't he will be giving the cycling community a bad reputation.
Driver has had his say, if the key snatcher is as innocent as he suggests he won't have anything to worry about.
Maybe there is some evidence that points to one party being further in the wrong than another and it wasn't made public. Who knows. I do think hiding away from his actions doesn't send the message that we want to be treated as equals with traffic laws, but instead suggests we'll shy away from our responsibilities.
Key snatcher is our national champion. Any act of aggression against him will be met with retaliation.
From now on June 26 will be national key snatch day.
this is going to end badly for both parties: The cyclist getting lynched by the police, and no doubt the cycling public will put Ahad's name through mud, like i've witnessed so many times before...
To be fair, the article doesn't state why the police are looking for the cyclist, or if it is in response to a complaint from the dangerous driver. They obviously don't need to track down the driver, they already know who he is.
So why would they be looking for the cyclist? Well, it could be to give him a reward for his public spirited actions for removing a dangerous driver from the road, or it could be to charge him with some offence. I wonder which.
What I want to know is have they had words with the driver who's behaviour caused the incident and who's driving fell well below that of a competent driver, behaviour which he has admitted? If not, stop chasing the cyclist.
If they do find the cyclist and start proceedings, put me down for a tenner for the defence fund.
I love the white with a dark complexion bit.
Maybe they are referring to cyclist tan lines?
Clearly they have nothing better to do though, because no worse crime has been done by a motorist ever.
Cyclist with a skinny build? That narrows it down...
rules me out !
hbc, what to issue a reward?
Where's the police appeal to track down the psycho in the red car that chased after the little onion?
Non-existent. I have passed my details on to the police officer dealing with the Nick Ahad case, and I haven't even had the courtesy of a reply. Car keys are clearly more important than a cyclist's life.....
That police description might just as well say "a cyclist".