Bike jacking/mugged in London

alexthepenguin

I thought I should share this with others on this forum.

I started cycling to work this year and my commute is around 5 miles and is mainly on the CS3 in London. Yesterday on my way home after work; as I was entering St James Park coming from Cable Street (https://goo.gl/maps/LqL9MWLbP7M2 - this is where you have to cross the road from cable street), I was blocked by three youths, all hooded and had bandana to cover the lower half of their faces) on the cyclepath. They pushed me off my bike and attempted to take off with it but I resisted. Then one of them reached into his pocket and threatened me and said it was not worth getting stabbed over a bike (if he did have a weapon he never produced it). Just as I was about to hand over my bike, a group of cyclists (maybe around 10-12 of them) passed by from the other direction and chased them off. So I was quite lucky and thankful for their help. I was okay other than a bit shaken and bruised.

A bit more details:
This incident happened between 8pm and 9pm on Friday
One of the youths was on a Boris bike, the other two did not have a bike
They seem to be teenagers (this is a guess) - all male
They only seemed to be interested in my bike and not my other possessions
My bike is not particular expensive - it's an entry level cyclecross bike
I passed by a police vehicle after the incident but I did not report the incident to them (possibly because I was still in shock but again I don't think there was anything they could do for me)
St James Park is probably one of the most secluded areas in my commute in CS3 between Tower Gateway and around Canning Town - still I was surprised as there are a lot of cyclists using CS3 although I do occasionally work till quite late (e.g. until past midnight and it does get quite quiet around that time)

Getting my bike nicked is always one of my concerns but never have I ever thought that I could be mugged for my bike in London! Even though I've only been commuting to work by bike for two months I am enjoying it and this incident is not going to put me off cycling. Having said that at the moment I still have a slight mental block when I think about the incident. I don't particularly want to change my commute route either because it's the safest (relatively speaking) and fastest for me to get to work (if I don't want to go to the A13 that is).

I am writing this post to warn other to watch out and if you happen to be one of the cyclists who came to my aide I would like to thank you - I really appreciate your help.

blackstar500

I think you mean St James Garden

alexthepenguin

Yes sorry St James Garden.

blackstar500

Yes that is my regular commute route as well. I suspect it gets quieter after 7pm and probably dead (9pm and beyond) at the times you use it . Not sure the place is even properly lit. Maybe it will make sense to look for an alternative and avoid going through the garden.

thistle_

alexthepenguin wrote:

I passed by a police vehicle after the incident but I did not report the incident to them (possibly because I was still in shock but again I don't think there was anything they could do for me)

I assume you've reported it to them since?

alexthepenguin

thistle (MBNW) wrote:

alexthepenguin wrote:

I passed by a police vehicle after the incident but I did not report the incident to them (possibly because I was still in shock but again I don't think there was anything they could do for me)

I assume you've reported it to them since?

Yes I have

cookeeemonster

Yeah thats my regular route. Not had a problem in 6 years but have heard about one or two incidents over the last year regarding that section. Its fine in rush hour/s but for the time you were attacked you could skip that bit and go commercial road/east india dock road instead? This meets the cs3 at canning town, or you could probably join it sooner if you wanted.

East india dock road has a bus lane, the only bit you need to be careful at is the blackwall tunnel turn off. Go straight and then when you get to canning town flyover keep left on the slip road

moarspeed

Some sound advice I got a few years back, go over your bike with duct tape, the less attractive it looks, the less negative attention you'll get. What use is a nice bike if it gets stolen?

blackstar500

MOARspeed wrote:

Some sound advice I got a few years back, go over your bike with duct tape, the less attractive it looks, the less negative attention you'll get. What use is a nice bike if it gets stolen?

The OP was travelling at night time and passing through a place that is almost non active at that time of the day mostly after 8pm ...Not sure the above would matter in that circumstance

thegremlinlives

I joined bikeradar so I could add a response to this: A similar thing happend to me at St James Garden, but going the other way.

I've been using this route for over a year, and I'm still using it, because at my normal time there are lots of commuter cyclists about. On Thursday 20th December, I left work quite late, so I think I went through St James Garden around 19:30.

I saw 2 guys on bikes, no lights, hoods, and bandana face coverings, at the end of park (near cable street/butchers row). I suspect now, they were waiting for someone to come into the park, but decided to follow me out because they were tempted by my Brompton.
Anyway before I got into Cable street, they start over taking me and cutting me up, and by the time I'm on cable street they are cycling on either side of me, which was weird, annoying and alarming.

Then one of them punched me on the leg, and I responded by saying "What the **** are you doing?", and then they both immediately started shouting and threatening me and quickly cycled a bit ahead of me, trying to stop me.
I kept going though, and just started shouting and threatening them back.

So this verbal back and forth probably went on for roughly 500m or so along Cable street way, and way past the bit where you have to cross over to the other side to stay on CS3 , but eventually they pulled off onto side roads, on the right.

Not exactly what you'd call a professional mugging, but I think it was an attempt.

So, I Googled "london bike jackings", and found this thread on the first page, and felt I should make people aware.

me-109

And you reported this officially, right? Whilst no serious incident took place, without visibility of the near misses the police can't target the right areas.