Knife-wielding moped muggers assault cyclist in latest “very targeted” attack at bikejacking hotspot

Regent’s Park was the scene of yet another violent bikejacking last week, as four muggers on mopeds pushed a cyclist into a fence during an early morning training ride, before holding him down with a knife and scarpering with his bike and Wahoo GPS computer.

This latest attack comes less than two months after the Regent’s Park Cyclists group, supported by British Cycling, Rapha, and Brompton, called on the Metropolitan Police to station more officers at the London crime hotspot in a bid to stem the seemingly constant flow of bikejackings in the area, believed to be the work of violent gangs shipping the high-value bicycles to Russia and which have had a “chilling effect” on the city’s cycling community.

Last Thursday, one local cyclist – a member of the southwest London-based Onyx RT racing team – was riding in Regent’s Park, a popular training ground due to its quiet, sometimes traffic-free roads, early in the morning when he was ambushed by four men on two mopeds, who threatened him with a knife before stealing his bike and computer.

“Sadly another violent bike jacking in Regents Park this morning. A 6ft 7 Onyx RT Racer was assaulted at knifepoint,” one local wrote on a cycling forum describing the incident, the Standard reports.

In a detailed account of the bikejacking also posted on the forum, the victim said: “Two mopeds, two men on each coming towards me at Outer Circle, Regent’s Park. I jumped up the kerb and onto the sidewalk and sprinted. Thought the kerb may protect me from them coming after me.

“They turned around and shouted at me to stop, then pushed me into the fence – I hit the fence. While they were getting off their mopeds I threw my phone into the dark grass. I tried to do the same with my Wahoo, but they grabbed it. Held me down with a knife while frisking me.”

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: “Police were called at 04.33am on Thursday, 18 April to reports of a robbery in Avenue Road NW8, near Regent’s Park.

“The victim was robbed of his bicycle by a group of suspects. The man was not injured but was understandably shaken. Officers took the victim home. Enquiries are ongoing.”

> British Cycling, Rapha and Brompton join call for more police action for cyclists being “systematically targeted by criminals” in violent bikejackings

Sean Epstein, the chair of the Regent’s Park Cyclists group, said the attack is the latest in a series of “very targeted” and “professional” attacks on cyclists riding high-end bikes in the area, which he says have increased significantly since September and put many people, especially women, off riding their bikes.

“They’re using bikes that have had their plates removed, they’re using balaclavas,” he said. “Every incident is basically exactly the same MO, very quick, very surgical, and all in a very targeted location, very early in the morning.”

In February, Regent’s Park Cyclists – which represents over 30 local cycling clubs and 5,000 cyclists – penned a letter to Metropolitan Police urging it to put a stop to the “chilling” attacks on cyclists.

The letter, addressed to Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley and supported by British Cycling, cycle insurance providers Laka, the London Cycling Campaign, and brands such as Zwift, Rapha, and Brompton, demanded that the Met commit its resources to investigate the “systematic targeting” of cyclists by violent criminals, and to increase its “on-the-ground police presence” in high-traffic areas to help cyclists “feel safe on London roads once again”.

“The pattern of crime is always the same,” Epstein wrote in the letter. “A cyclist is followed by a moped, kicked to the ground while riding at speed, and, once immobilised, threatened with further violence. These crimes appear to target the bikes, which are carried away on the back of the offending moped and presumably sold shortly afterward.

“However, these attacks should not be thought of as simple ‘bike theft’; they are violent crimes which leave victims physically injured and mentally traumatised, often unable to feel safe cycling in London again.”

> Victims call for more police at hotspot for violent bikejacking gangs targeting "list" of high-value bikes

Earlier in the month, victims of these increasingly common bikejackings also called on the Met to station more officers in Regent’s Park, after figures revealed that there are two bikejackings a day in London as a whole.

Scott, a 49-year-old man who was riding a £15,000 Pinarello Dogma on his way to the park at around 5am in mid-December, explained at the time how he was approached “when two guys idled up to me on a motorbike and one said to the other, ‘It’s on the list’.”

Scott said he felt “targeted” as he had no trouble when riding his other bike, worth £1,000, and is in Facebook groups where other bikejackings have been reported.

“It’s normally the same three brands: Pinarello, Bianchi, and [Specialized] S-Works,” he said.

“The police told me there had been a significant number of bike-jackings at that time in the morning. It’s dark and cyclists are vulnerable. My understanding from groups [is] there’s been about eight to ten taken in about a month. I’ve ridden all over the world and it's not an issue in other countries — it seems to be prevalent here.

“"They told me to ‘get off the f***ing bike’ and tried to force me off the road. I fell off and a car stopped and opened the door. I threw my bike in and jumped in and the guys continued to ride around the car shouting, ‘Get out the f***ing car’.

“It was pretty scary. They continued to wait outside the car yelling at us and then a security guard came by and they took off.”

> “Copycat” moped mugger kicks cyclist into fence, threatens to stab him, and steals bike in yet another violent bikejacking

Such incidents in the English capital and its bordering counties are nothing new, with numerous similar assaults reported over the past few years. Perhaps the most high-profile of these attacks involved professional cyclist Alexandar Richardson, who was knocked off his bike and dragged for 100 metres by muggers on motorbikes who threatened him with a machete as he trained in south-west London’s Richmond Park.

Last April a teenager, who was 15 at the time of the attack, was sentenced to 12 months for his role in the bikejacking.

However, the spate of recent attacks in Regent’s Park suggest bikejackings there have become the speciality of organised gangs, rather than the, in some cases, apparently opportunistic criminal acts of youths reported in other parts of London and Kent.