Woman targeted by youths on cycle path under Melrosegate

Two girls, aged 14 and 12, targeted a woman riding her bike on the cycle path beneath Melrosegate at around 2pm on Saturday (July 11).

The youths were caught throwing sticks at the woman from the bridge and when challenged by the victim, they were reported to have laughed at her, making her feel “intimidated”.

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The York woman said she could have suffered a serious head injury had she not been wearing a cycle helmet.

But she said that when she stopped to tell the girls how dangerous their actions had been, they just laughed.

And when she said she was going to call the police, they responded: “Go ahead, they won’t come and they won’t do anything.

“We can do whatever we want to do, they won’t stop us.”

The woman, who does not want to be identified, said she riding to an appointment and felt something heavy falling on her head.  

She said: “I felt very confused and pressed on my brakes.

“My first thought was that a branch had fallen off a tree as I saw it lying on the ground; I thought I was just slightly unlucky.

“However, I suddenly remembered reading on Facebook about a female cyclist being targeted under a bridge and went back to look up.

“Two girls were sitting on the bridge.

“I noticed that they had more sticks and branches with them. I cycled on to the other side of the bridge and started to call the police.

“The police were on the phone with me for 17 minutes and told me to share my location as they were going to dispatch a local unit.

“They told me there had been three reports of teenage girls throwing things.

“They asked me to describe what happened and what the girls looked like.

“In the meantime, I kept warning passers-by, especially cyclists.”

The woman said she was called back by another police officer, who asked whether she wanted to press a criminal charge.

“He mentioned that because the offenders were underage, even if that happened, the law was lenient on them. He said they were well known to police and repeat incidents had been reported already.”

She said she told him she didn’t want to press a criminal charge in this case because of the stress involved, having had a very bad experience in the past with another force when she was a victim of a more serious crime and had spent hours reliving the nightmare with various officers, but nothing had come of it.

“He then asked me what did I want them to do?”

I said in a bit of disbelief: “Stop them! They could hurt someone seriously next, as if I wasn’t wearing a helmet, I would’ve been hurt.

“He reassured me that a unit was in the area and told me I could go home.”

She said that from looking on Facebook, it was clear that multiple people had been targeted and the situation had escalated quickly, “starting with water and flour, even moving through tampons, and now sticks and branches”.

The woman added: “My confidence has really dropped down and I don’t think I’ll venture out like that again.

“I’m planning to talk to the councillors for the area and York Cycling Campaign to escalate this.”

Speaking about this, a North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “Officers attended and the located the girls who are aged 14 and 12.

“They challenged them about their behaviour and explained the potential consequences of their actions.

“If you are a witness or a victim of this type of behaviour, please do not hesitate to report it on 101 or 999 if an emergency response is required.”