A woman has been arrested by police in Cheltenham after a teenager was robbed of his bike at knifepoint.
Gloucestershire Constabulary say that the incident took place in the St Marks area of the town yesterday afternoon.
Police were called to Fairmount Road, a residential road close to Cheltenham railway station, shortly after 3.35pm after a report was received that a woman had threatened the teenager and his friends with a Stanley knife, before taking his bike.
She then headed away along Gloucester Road towards the junction with Lansdown Road.
Officers attending the incident undertook searches in the area and identified a woman matching the description of the suspect, and who was in possession of the stolen bicycle.
They subsequently arrested a 25-year-old woman from Liverpool on suspicion of robbery, and the suspect remains in police custody.
Gloucestershire Constabulary said that “None of the boys were physically injured but they were shaken by what happened.”
The force is requesting anyone who witnessed the robbery, or who has information, including CCTV or dashcam footage, to get in touch, quoting incident 266 of 19 January.
The past couple of years have seen a rise in reports of cyclists being threatened with violence to hand over their bikes, with robbers often using bladed weapons to force their victims to comply.
Last year, following a spate of such robberies in south London, British Cycling’s policy manager, Nick Chamberlain, said that the governing body was “deeply concerned” about the situation.
> “Deeply concerned” British Cycling steps in following spate of violent bikejackings across south London
He said that it was “extremely hard to discuss these sorts of issues without causing panic,” but “the last thing any of us would wish is to deter people from cycling … through a fear of being attacked.
“The sad reality however is that when these spikes in violent crime occur, and while we try to understand the pattern of incidents better, it is prudent for individuals, clubs and groups to discuss these concerns together and think carefully about the rides they have planned,” he continued.
“As with the incidents that occurred in Richmond Park last year [2021], we know that by working together as a cycling community to quickly pass relevant information to the police we can support them to quickly and effectively tackle the issue.
“Therefore, if any incident of this sort (including threatening behaviour that stops short of a crime being committed) occurs to you, your club or group, please report it to the British Cycling incident helpline after first informing the police so that we can better understand the scale of the problem.
“It is unclear to what extent, if any, the role of online training and tracking apps have played a part in these crimes or whether it is rather specific locations that are popular with local riders that are being targeted,” Chamberlain added.
“However, we would encourage everyone to be mindful of their privacy settings on all electronic devices.”
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Radar tells me their closing speed, if they are slowing and how far away. Then I decide to say a prayer. The change of light pattern is incidental.
Quite so, which is why our village 20mph zone covers the whole residential extent. Of course, enforcement is another thing..
£4.
No, that's very doubtful while proper testing would be fully destructive.
In that £1000 exactly scenario, beginners should probably be made aware that pedals will be extra.
What's wrong with dropping down on to the Millenium Bridge, or the swing bridge, then the brief, but satisfying climb back up the hill? #training....
The relatives might of course disagree, but in general I'd countenance a relatively light sentence* if only we could fix it so that those who...
Id forgotten that I got a second hand set of project two's for my getting to work bike over twenty years back.
My bet is that all these tires popping off are from people with bad pressure gauges or they're simply just putting too much air in on purpose. ...
David9694 - you were right! These new autonomous vehicles really are conspiring to run out of control!...