LUCKY TO BE ALIVE
A TEENAGE off-road biker is lucky to be alive today after being almost garrotted by a barbed wire booby trap set by vigilante South Yorkshire residents.

Police today warned angry residents fed up with illegal bikers not to take the law into their own hands after 16-year-old Scott Bower was almost killed.
Scott rode straight into the razor-sharp wire, which sliced through his neck and yanked him off a bike on a notorious off-road biker track in Kimberworth, Rotherham.
The teenager, who was not wearing a helmet, suffered a long deep cut to his neck and chin which needed 17 stitches at Rotherham Hospital.
Scott's distressed mum Lesley Bower, of Simmonite Road, Kimberworth Park, said today: "He is lucky not to have been killed or blinded.
"He jumped on his mate's bike and went down a hill. At the bottom he saw the wire just in time and managed to bend his head back.
"A split second later it would have either slashed his neck or poked his eyes out. He is very, very lucky not to have been even more badly injured.
"I can understand why residents would be upset by off-road biking, but this is not the way to go about it.
"What the lads need is a proper track. I wish the police and Rotherham Council would get together to sort something out for them.
"I don't want this to happen to anyone else. Next time it could be much worse."
Scott is now recovering at home, and is still badly shaken, Lesley said.
The incident happened near Grange Park Golf Club on Wortley Road in an area known locally as Watson's Tip on a track popular with rogue bikers.
Inspector James Revitt of South Yorkshire Police said today: "We are treating this matter very seriously. This young man received a nasty cut to his neck and was fortunate not to receive more substantial injuries. "At the time he was on a motorbike and his neck injuries were caused by barbed wire which had been stretched across a track used by off-road bikers.
"We do get a number of complaints about off-road bikers and some residents feel very strongly. But this shows the danger of taking the law into their own hands.
"The police and Rotherham Council devote time and money to combating the problem and a number of operations are to be run across Rotherham.
"This highlights the risks to youths who undertake such activities. They frequently use machines which are in a dangerous condition and drive without helmets.
"They commit a number of offences including driving without insurance. We will pursue offences against parents where we can prove they have aided an offence."

Sheffield Star (http://www.sheffieldtoday.net/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=58&ArticleID=1377835)

If the police had been at the known 'hotspot' stopping the bikers, they would have spotted the barbed wire before it had time to do any damage.

Or they might have even seen the person setting it up

I wonder where they actually were......

hmmmm, i understand his mum is upset by whats happened, but i wonder if she realises how much stress her son has put residents under with his illegal activities?
dont condone what the residents have done (lets face it, wtf were they thinking putting BARBED wire....perhaps it wasnt the residents who did it...perhaps it was someone else??), but can see why they felt the need to take the law into their own hands (if it was the residents). we get loads of bikers on the pavements round here - they run the old uns off the paths sometimes and scare them out of their wits....police cant do a damn thing about it, it seems, despite regular ops to try and curb it.

Hasn't this happened before? I was on my driving lesson today and one shot at me with no intention of stopping, and the driving instructer had to stop for me otherwise it could have been nasty.

I wonder if this trap was set by a normally law abiding citizen who had an equally narrow escape when encountering one of these bikes tearing about in a location where a pedestrian should be safe? Funny how those events are no longer news.

I'm glad he escaped with his life, but this whole article reads like he and his family all believe it's 'somebody else's fault' - notice the mention of it being a 'mate's bike'?

*rant* *grumble* *bah humbug*

Thats horrific! And I find it difficult to believe that 'p*ssed off residents' did that. Barbed wire FFS, pulled taut across a path?! That is the work of some seriously F'd up heads. A bit like the covering up of a hole in the floor of a building with a rug, then setting the place on fire, to try and booby trap it for the firemen.

It does seem rather drastic of the residents to risk almost killing him, but as his name has been published in the paper as an illegal off-road biker I hope the police will charge him as soon as he is out of hospital. Why is his mum so indignant about it.. surely she should take some blame for allowing her child to go out doing what he was doing:rant:

Hasn't this happened before? ...
Last time it was a mountain biker who fell foul of one of these traps

I'm sorry but I dont have any sympathy for these illegal bikers either killed or injured riding illegally.

The last time it happened and made the news was when another off road biker was riding a 'mates bike' on the Woodthorpe about 12 + years ago and he got the same result.
He has now to live with a serious neck injury as a result of that day and has difficulty talking without assistance as it damaged his throat and voice box I do believe.
This was not barbed wire though but I believe it was the wire used like the fencing wire used along the edge of the Parkway where the footpath is.

Total uncalled for,if the person/s who did this are ever found they should be punished.I know the bikers can be a pain and i don't agree with what they do around residential areas but this act was insane.

Last time it was a mountain biker who fell foul of one of these traps

Could also have injured innocent people out walking if it was not easy to spot

I cannot condone the residents for nearly hacking off a kids head but if the police wont do anything about it then someone has to,only with less drastic means of action.These idiots riding around our streets at speed with no helmet on,sometimes with very young kids as pillion,riding at people o the pavement and not giving a rats ar*e about anyone else are social scum and need a wake up call before something serious happens to them.

i can see there point but that could have been lethal im a biker but only in legal areas or on the road but i hate how the lawless get decent biking people a bad name

I'm sorry but I dont have any sympathy for these illegal bikers either killed or injured riding illegally.

I can't disagree. This isn't the way to deal with the problem, but they are a menace.

The guilty parties though are the parents. There are now loads of very cheap imported minibikes and small off-roaders which are being sold like hotcakes to families who buy the damned things then just let little Brad go out to play - at 12 years old without a helmet on public roads and park areas.

The kids need to be controlled, which is very difficult for the Police (who do respond and do confiscate the bikes) but the message that needs to be sent is to the parents, who must understand that they will land up in court, and doing community service, if they let their nasty little badly-raised chav offspring out on the roads on these machines.

I'm not anti-bikes, I'm a biker and have been for nearly 20 years - I have 2 road bikes and 2 off road bikes, but all road legal and all used where I'm allowed to use them.
The parents that buy these things are mindless idiots who probably can't even see their own stupidity. I can't sympathise with them when their little chav is killed in a crash, but I can hugely sympathise with the poor driver who might have driven over them, and then be having to live with the memory of a squashed child under their wheels.

This is the first I have heard of this particular story, but I imagine the children of, or known to, some fine upstanding adults who were legally hoping to solve this menace, took matters too far using their own quite reckless initiative without telling the adults. And are probably quaking in their boots at this moment hoping that nobody will find out it is them.

This kind of thing always happens when people are selfish and don't consider the harm and stress they are causing their neighbours. It's nothing new. 20 years ago my dad was injured as he was walking out of a meeting in a church when someone had tied a tight wire across a passage.


I also support what the last two posters have said also being a responsible biker of many years standing. These scum give the true biking community a bad name. It's a pity they use the word BIKE.

As far as I'm concerned he suffered an injury from carrying out an illegal activity and I don't have one iota of sympathy with him. :sad:

He should view this as an occupational hazard, in much the same way as a burglar should view having his wrist gashed when breaking someones window or being bitten by a dog when ransacking someones house. :nod:

I would like to bet that it makes him and other such similar scum very wary about carrying out their nefarious activities in the future, thereby relieving the hard done to local population of a great deal of stress. :clap:

So this lads mother would like the council to construct a proper off road biking track. Obviously it wouldn't be the area where they illegally use their bikes now due to it being too close to a residential area. So, then we would have a proper track that is a couple of miles away. Will she then get a nice new £1500 trailer so she can take him and his scabby old £200 bike legally to the new track??? I don't think so... do you??

this is fu***ng stupid, as if people are setting booby traps with barbed wire, i can understand these residents are ****** of with the sound of motorbikes flying about, but to try and kill them is ridiculous. Of course it is the job of the police to stop this but there is only so much they can do in terms of resources and money - the answer is...........create more dirt tracks at prices these people can afford, to kill them is not the way around this!

That’s right, it just wouldn't work. Not only would the tracks be too far away for people to get to without transport - and the only way to move the bikes would be in a vehicle or on a trailer, but the Council would be very reluctant to build such sites because they would be liable for people injuring themselves.

All of the legitimate off-road motocross tracks and enduro courses subject bikes to scrutineering to make sure they pass safety standards, and the riders have to have race licenses. Green laning takes place under normal road laws for MOT, tax and insurance. The Council’s legal department would fall off their chairs laughing if somebody seriously proposed providing a free area for young unlicensed scrotes to hoon about on motorcycles. Sheffield has on occasion nturned a blind eye to existing wasteland (like Parkwood Springs) being used by bikes, but the Police have had to run crackdowns on there looking not just for stolen bikes, but for uninsured, untested and unlicensed riders.

The simple answer is to educate the obviously dim and totally irresponsible parents (through heavy penalties when their kids are caught) that just because their little darling wants a bike doesn’t mean he can have one. (I wanted a flame thrower when I was about 8, but my parents had to explain that I couldn’t have one).

this is fu***ng stupid, as if people are setting booby traps with barbed wire, i can understand these residents are ****** of with the sound of motorbikes flying about, but to try and kill them is ridiculous. Of course it is the job of the police to stop this but there is only so much they can do in terms of resources and money - the answer is...........create more dirt tracks at prices these people can afford, to kill them is not the way around this!

And how are they going to legally transport their bikes to the tracks? Or should we knock down a proportion of each council estate to build a dirt track?

People have to accept that they can't have everything that they want, and that sympathy isn't available for those who get hurt while breaking the law.

if they injure themselves then fair enough, but setting up a trap is wrong - and as we have heard could have killed! Now im not saying what these kids do is right, ive been there and i know its not right - but this aint the way to deal with it. The simple thing is these guys arent experienced enough or dont have the money to ride at a pro track, but that dont mean they will all stop riding, its what they enjoy - and if you have ever rode a motox bike you will know how much fun can be had, but obviously the way they go about it is wrong. But more tracks are needed without a shadow of a doubt, if these people have nowhere to go then this is what you get!

if they injure themselves then fair enough, but setting up a trap is wrong - and as we have heard could have killed! Now im not saying what these kids do is right, ive been there and i know its not right - but this aint the way to deal with it. The simple thing is these guys arent experienced enough or dont have the money to ride at a pro track, but that dont mean they will all stop riding, its what they enjoy - and if you have ever rode a motox bike you will know how much fun can be had, but obviously the way they go about it is wrong. But more tracks are needed without a shadow of a doubt, if these people have nowhere to go then this is what you get!

If you read my previous replies you'll see that I've been riding on and off road for nearly 20 years, but at the times when I was younger and wanted a bike I had to accept that I couldn't becasue I had no private land to do it on.

Read my more recent replies which explain why you just can't build tracks - we live in a world of litigation and compensation culture, so the councils (or private enterprises) simply cannot let untrained, underage, unlicensed, uninsured scrotes tear round on unroadworthy bikes. IT CANNOT BE DONE LEGALLY unless you're on private land, with the landowner's permission.

So, as I said, the only answer is firm Policing which hits the parents hard in the pocket and through community service. If they can afford to waste hundreds of pounds on bikes that will be used illegaly, they'll be able to pay some fines and do some community service - that will be a nice incentive to make them consider sensible parenting. If the kid wants a bike, they should buy him something with pedals or tell him to shut up moaning and send him to bed.

harder policing is definately the way forward i dont deny that at all, but for residents to take this in their own hands i disagree with and the methods they choose are definately not right.

Now i used to ride at Armthorpe and i cant say that everybike was either legal or in good condition, there are alot of bikes here which are similar to the ones the "scroats" ride about, and what do you mean by underage? i didnt realise there was an age to ride track? and most of these people are also untrained, they all have to start somwhere so i do disagree with this comment

"we live in a world of litigation and compensation culture, so the councils (or private enterprises) simply cannot let untrained, underage, unlicensed, uninsured scrotes tear round on unroadworthy bikes"

it happens at certain tracks, the problem as you stated before is simply getting to these tracks

If they can afford to waste hundreds of pounds on bikes that will be used illegaly, . . .

You think they *buy* them then? ;)

(I wanted a flame thrower when I was about 8, but my parents had to explain that I couldn’t have one).
Oh my god!! How did you cope? How long were you in therapy after you didn't get the one thing that could make you happy? ;)

:D Fantastic illustration :thumbsup:

if they injure themselves then fair enough, but setting up a trap is wrong - and as we have heard could have killed! Now im not saying what these kids do is right, ive been there and i know its not right - but this aint the way to deal with it. The simple thing is these guys arent experienced enough or dont have the money to ride at a pro track, but that dont mean they will all stop riding, its what they enjoy - and if you have ever rode a motox bike you will know how much fun can be had, but obviously the way they go about it is wrong. But more tracks are needed without a shadow of a doubt, if these people have nowhere to go then this is what you get!Most people enjoy sex, but that doesn't entitle anybody to carry out a rape :rant:

Most people enjoy sex, but that doesn't entitle anybody to carry out a rape :rant:

what the f**k are u chattin about, there is a difference between riding a bike and rape, you cant use that as a comparison.

I've had a bike licence for 23 years, had bikes for 31 years! used parkwood springs & plenty of green laning when the licence was held. Bikes were allways well maintained & the noise levels kept low!!.
Did some illegal riding when younger:rolleyes: like a lot of people!
We need more legal places to ride, & heavy handed policing to stop the kids using the roads! & encouragement to use legal tracks. Or will we have to wait untill some little darling gets killed on the road with no helmet/safety gear or insurance by an innocent motorist.

what the f**k are u chattin about, there is a difference between riding a bike and rape, you cant use that as a comparison.
Just explain that to any of the families who are dealing with the loss of a loved one due to an 'accident' with one of these bikes.

And before you retort Sheffieldism, don't forget the lad who was killed at Woodhouse Mill/Handsworth a few weeks ago

The government could allways tax these bikes out of the market, but that would penalise the people that ride responsably & legaly!

Just explain that to any of the families who are dealing with the loss of a loved one due to an 'accident' with one of these bikes.

And before you retort Sheffieldism, don't forget the lad who was killed at Woodhouse Mill/Handsworth a few weeks ago

explain what exactly? that rape is the same? stop talking **** strix, ive never once said that what these kids is doing is right? so what is your problem, what about the drivers who drive over the legal speed limit? i reckon most people have gone over the speed limit at least once in their lifetime, does that make it ok? no, does that stop people from doing it? no

And i havent forgot about the child in the accident recently as i live very close to that spot, and it was an "accident" as he obvioulsy didnt go out with that intention did he?

The person/people who set up this trap should have the book thrown at them. Either they're so stupid that they fail to realise that barbed wire at throat level equals badly slashed throat, or they're sadistic enough not to care. If I knew who they were, I'd shop them to the police in a second. :rant:

they're sadistic enough not to care. If I knew who they were, I'd shop them to the police in a second. :rant:

The same could be said about illegal bikers.

Where are the places in Sheffield where this off the road biking is prevalent?

I cant add to what has been said already about riding or the barbed wire, but I would hate to unwittingly move next to one of these illegal bike tracks, and so would many other forummers who are househunting. I sympathise with the residents who have to put up with the noise and nuisance, I wouldnt be happy either.

So where do they ride?

The same could be said about illegal bikers.

Illegal bikers may be irresponsible, but they don't set out to deliberately kill or injure people. Whoever set up that barbed wire trap must have known there was a good chance it would kill or injure someone. The two situations simply aren't comparable.

:(

Daley, I agree with you, the bikers (the illegal 1's that is) are doing wrong, but the people that set the trap need stringing up. Two wrongs dont make a right!!!!!!

My personal feeling is that it is more likely to have been stupid teenagers that placed the wire, rather than any 'vigilante' resident.

Not based on any knowledge, though. Just my feeling.

Illegal bikers may be irresponsible, but they don't set out to deliberately kill or injure people. Whoever set up that barbed wire trap must have known there was a good chance it would kill or injure someone. The two situations simply aren't comparable.

:(


Perhaps they have thought about where to ride it before buyingit.
stupid parents for allowing it in the first instance.
get legal get insured & get out of residential areas.

there are places that i know which are "illegal" but away from residential areas, places you dont get hassle from people, and places that are popular with riders - but to get to these places you need a trailer or van which goes back to the original problem of transport, but just to let you know that not all riders are intent on breaking the law and causing a disturbance, they simply want to ride their bikes hassle free.

Also a fellow LEGAL 'biker' (well ex-), I agree with what someone posted earlier; if you break the law, suffer ANY consequences. I have no sympathy for someone who gets injured as a result an illegal action of this nature.

It the resident's I feel for.

I don't suppose the police were by his hospital bed waiting to arrest him following his recovery!

If the police had been at the known 'hotspot' stopping the bikers, they would have spotted the barbed wire before it had time to do any damage.

Or they might have even seen the person setting it up

I wonder where they actually were......

So the Police are to blame for 2 other people breaking the Law?

Words fail me! :roll:

We should be glad that a young 'un on their push bike didn't ride down that route flat-out.

They are either tearin round fields or even worse public roads and you always get some moron with no lights flyin round the streets at night narrowly missin legal road users....people will only put up with so much then they do things like this with barbed wire to try to teach the bikers a lesson..

To be honest, in the summer time these little ASBO's on their bikes drive me crazy riding round and round the estate. Especially on a Sunday when trying to sleep off a hangover.

These irresponsible little thugs should be locked up or sent to work down a coalmine, indefinately. They are truly a menace, and it's only a matter of time until they seriously injure somebody in my area.

The police response is a joke. I remember last year they set up a hotline to call to report such things... if you called it, you got a recorded message saying that your call would be dealt with inside 24 hours. What kind of use is that?!?

You could try calling the station, they sound interested in what you have to say, and promise to send a car "immediately"; but the cars never come and the kids keep screeching around on their death mobiles.

Dave out.

From my experience (I have just moved, but used to live near where illegal bikers congrugated), some of them almost want the Police to attend as part of there game - catch me if you can (and if you can you cant do a damn thing because I'm a kid!)

From my experience (I have just moved, but used to live near where illegal bikers congrugated), some of them almost want the Police to attend as part of there game - catch me if you can (and if you can you cant do a damn thing because I'm a kid!)

Was this in Sheffield or Barnsley? Where do they congregate in Sheffield?

Illegal bikers may be irresponsible, but they don't set out to deliberately kill or injure people.
True they probably don't set out to deliberately kill or injure people, but the ones near us have come pretty close to doing so. If he was breaking the law and risking killing or injuring innocent people then I can't have any sympathy for him almost killing himself by riding into the trap, although I wouldn't set traps like that as is highly irresponsible as it is likely to catch innocent people and is also illegal. Does anyone know if the police have charged the rider yet?

They should- if somebody is injured due to crashing while driving dangerously, that person will be brought to court when fit enough to attend.

The scrote injured while riding illegally should still be dealt with by the courts.

Illegal bikers may be irresponsible, but they don't set out to deliberately kill or injure people. .

:(

neither do illegal drink drivers but everyone would soon be condemning their behaviour on here.

neither do illegal drink drivers but everyone would soon be condemning their behaviour on here.

Game, set and match to Willman !!!!!

The person/people who set up this trap should have the book thrown at them........ If I knew who they were, I'd shop them to the police in a second. :rant:

I most certainly would not. :nono:

Although I probably wouldn't 'shop' them, I think I would point out to them that it could have been a kiddy on a pushbike who ran into it.

Not a pleasant thought at all. :(

explain what exactly?
Explain why you think that just because somebody feels like doing something, that's okay. The 'rape' analogy is there to illustrate that just because somebody feels like having sex with some unwilling 'victim' doesn't make it legal, just as wanting to own a bike and terrorise/injure pedestrians/other road users/wildlife/pets doesn't make that okay either.

And less of the swearing thanks ;)

Explain why you think that just because somebody feels like doing something, that's okay. The 'rape' analogy is there to illustrate that just because somebody feels like having sex with some unwilling 'victim' doesn't make it legal, just as wanting to own a bike and terrorise/injure pedestrians/other road users/wildlife/pets doesn't make that okay either.

And less of the swearing thanks ;)


ur off your nut, what is wrong with you - stop twisting my words, i never said it was ok nor did i say it was legal so where are you getting this info from?

And i dont think the majority of motox riders go out intending to injure or terrorise pedestrians, again where do u get this info from. As i have said previously people go over the speed limit on a daily basis, this is a very common thing, but does that make it ok?

and if i want to swear i will, thanks

Maybe not the majority, but certainly a significant percentage do think its ok to ride on pavements, tear across roads in front of traffic without looking and generally behave in a manner for which they should be arrested. They do use public footpaths, note footpaths which means that the only legal form of transport is foot, and their behaviour is offensive and intimidatory.

As to speeding, well thats a completely different matter, but perhaps limits need to be reviewed with a view to increasing them.

As to speeding, well thats a completely different matter, but perhaps limits need to be reviewed with a view to increasing them.

yet its still dangerous and causes alot more deaths than an illegal rider. Like i say i dont condone this activity in any way, riding round housing estates is wrong - i know a big group of motox riders, who dont always ride "legally" but the places we go, dont have pedestrians, footpaths or complaining neighbours, its just a select group that dont have respect and will ride recklessly without care!

yet its still dangerous and causes alot more deaths than an illegal rider. Like i say i dont condone this activity in any way, riding round housing estates is wrong - i know a big group of motox riders, who dont always ride "legally" but the places we go, dont have pedestrians, footpaths or complaining neighbours, its just a select group that dont have respect and will ride recklessly without care!

And it's the riders who ride illegally, whether in towns or out of the way, that cause such problems for the trail and enduro riders who are very careful NOT to break the law and bring the biking fraternity into disrepute.

Well done sheffieldism for being as bad as the little scrotes on minibikes.

End of the day, the police won't do much. It takes more than a camera at the side of the road to catch them.

reference to the story at the start of the thread. As it was due to illegal activity I hope they charge his parents for any ambulance attendance.

And it's the riders who ride illegally, whether in towns or out of the way, that cause such problems for the trail and enduro riders who are very careful NOT to break the law and bring the biking fraternity into disrepute.

Well done sheffieldism for being as bad as the little scrotes on minibikes.

dont even compare me to the scrotes, i dont go tearing around council estates - iam licensed and insured and go to legal traks - aswell as the ones not so legal, but these are places well out the way where you dont get complaints, which also run into green lane tracks. And you think im bringing down the enduro fraternity, haha dont be daft. The reason i go to these places is due the the terrain, places that create a challenge when riding, i dont go there to purposely break the law and **** people off - but i choose the places i do because they are safe and hassle free.

infact i dont know many enduro riders that dont ride at these places!

They should- if somebody is injured due to crashing while driving dangerously, that person will be brought to court when fit enough to attend.

The scrote injured while riding illegally should still be dealt with by the courts.

Time to break out the guns and get shut of the scum.

and if i want to swear i will, thanks

MOD: No you won't, that way ban purgatory lies. First, and only, warning. Thank you.

I saw this thread and thought "what's illegal baking, making hash brownies ?"

I need new glasses.

MOD: No you won't, that way ban purgatory lies. First, and only, warning. Thank you.

for swearing, its always blanked out anyway, whats the problem? i didnt realise i had to follow your rules?

True they probably don't set out to deliberately kill or injure people, but the ones near us have come pretty close to doing so. If he was breaking the law and risking killing or injuring innocent people then I can't have any sympathy for him almost killing himself by riding into the trap, although I wouldn't set traps like that as is highly irresponsible as it is likely to catch innocent people and is also illegal. Does anyone know if the police have charged the rider yet?

I agree. I would say that the stakes have been raised, but not in favour of illegal bikers.

Illegal bikers have been round for ages. I remember them racing across Flockton Park in Woodhouse back in the 70's. But, they kept away from the public and fled when the saw the police.

Now things have changed, they love the thrill of the police chase and know that nothing will get done if they get caught. Plus, they deliberately get as close to walkers as they can to 'scare' them. I'm not sure if I condone the barbed wire or not (I'd have used piano wire!) but sometimes you do have to fight fire with fire when you don't get justice.

I'm sorry but I dont have any sympathy for these illegal bikers either killed or injured riding illegally.

Well said MM!

for swearing, its always blanked out anyway, whats the problem? i didnt realise i had to follow your rules?

MOD: Not my rules, the site rules which includes not using masked swearing:

FAQs (http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/faq.php)

okidokee, ill have to express my anger in different ways, such as flipping eck, and bloody hell, is this ok? bleedin bar stewards. :)

Well said MM!
i have a quadbike and go to the desert in mansfield where about 2 peoples been killed for (stupid) people useing barbed wire i have a 4 year old son who rides if i cort someone putting it up id rap it around them see haw there like it and has of tracks there miles away and the poeple who run them dont supervise well enougth they let all the good riders (kids)on with the learners so all you humbugs that dont like to ride tell me where to take me son )at least where we go i no my sons safer there than a track:rant: i dont ride on streets but can under stand why some.do i dont agree with it .and for blaming the parent i think your full of it do you no where your kids are and doin dont think so

[i]LUCKY TO BE ALIVE
A TEENAGE off-road biker is lucky to be alive today after being almost garrotted by a barbed wire booby trap set by vigilante South Yorkshire residents.

He got what he deserved. I'm dissapointed that the scrote wasn't decapitated but a good effort anyway.

Next time use piano wire.

MOD: No you won't, that way ban purgatory lies. First, and only, warning. Thank you.
Then they will re-register and start again. Has it ever occured to you why you have so many registered users? Don't start with the IP nonsense either, only the terminally clueless still don't know how to get round that one.

[QUOTE=garryn]End of the day, the police won't do much. It takes more than a camera at the side of the road to catch them.

Not quite so Garryn. I am aware that the local policing team at Woodhouse have dealt with just under 200 off road motor bikes/ riders in the past twelve months.

Under the Police Reform Act officers have the power to give an intial warning to users of the bikes. If they transgress again within a twelve month period the bikes are seized immediately- However the owners are able to buy them back by paying just over a hundred quid.!!

The law needs changing to allow officers to seize bikes straight away and keep them !!!

I agree there is a genuine need by a number of lawful enthusiasts to ride somewhere lawfully and with adequate supervision

As for legal sites in Sheffield Councillors have been asked to look at this for a number of years but to date they have been unabale to identify a site away from residential properties.

Officers regularily deal with off road bike users but have to do so in a way that does not put themselves or other members of the general puiblic in danger.:confused:

What would have happened if a seven year old was riding a bicycle in the same area?

All forum members with murderous tendencies should get on with their slaying of choice so the rest of us can live in peace while they do a twenty stretch in the nick!

What would have happened if a seven year old was riding a bicycle in the same area?

I agree wearetherobots......... and I'm one of the 'flog 'em' brigade. Whoever did this wasn't thinking at all. See my post #53 on this thread. It got no response back then.

Not quite so Garryn. I am aware that the local policing team at Woodhouse have dealt with just under 200 off road motor bikes/ riders in the past twelve months.

Pity they have not ventured up the road to Handsworth Rec, every day without fail theres kids zipping around, terrorising walkers and people out with their kids, they even had the cheek to zip through a football match being played on sunday. If you say anything then you get a load of abuse hurled at you, what these scrotes dont realise if they have an accident then they would be relying on you call an ambulance or fetch help.

i have a quadbike and go to the desert in mansfield where about 2 peoples been killed for (stupid) people useing barbed wire i have a 4 year old son who rides if i cort someone putting it up id rap it around them see haw there like it and has of tracks there miles away and the poeple who run them dont supervise well enougth they let all the good riders (kids)on with the learners so all you humbugs that dont like to ride tell me where to take me son )at least where we go i no my sons safer there than a track:rant: i dont ride on streets but can under stand why some.do i dont agree with it .and for blaming the parent i think your full of it do you no where your kids are and doin dont think so

The desert isn't legal. You seem to be exactly the sort of parent that just lets your spawn have what they want without thinking of the consequences. It's simple, if you don't have access to the right sort of land, you shouldn't buy the bikes or quads. Buy a bicycle instead that can be used legally in the local park.
It IS the parents' fault. And people do have a right to tell you where to take your son if what you're doing is illegal and irresponsible.


By the way, I suggest you attend night school - they do run adult illiteracy classes.

The desert isn't legal. You seem to be exactly the sort of parent that just lets your spawn have what they want without thinking of the consequences. It's simple, if you don't have access to the right sort of land, you shouldn't buy the bikes or quads. Buy a bicycle instead that can be used legally in the local park.
It IS the parents' fault. And people do have a right to tell you where to take your son if what you're doing is illegal and irresponsible.


By the way, I suggest you attend night school - they do run adult illiteracy classes.

its right the desert isnt legal, but for a long time the police wernt too fussed about people riding there, ive actually spoken to police about this area, as they once advised me this is a place you can ride which we dont monitor, but all that has changed and last weekend they blocked off all the exits, so the desert is a now a no go area.

I can't disagree. This isn't the way to deal with the problem, but they are a menace.

The guilty parties though are the parents. There are now loads of very cheap imported minibikes and small off-roaders which are being sold like hotcakes to families who buy the damned things then just let little Brad go out to play - at 12 years old without a helmet on public roads and park areas.

The kids need to be controlled, which is very difficult for the Police (who do respond and do confiscate the bikes) but the message that needs to be sent is to the parents, who must understand that they will land up in court, and doing community service, if they let their nasty little badly-raised chav offspring out on the roads on these machines.

I'm not anti-bikes, I'm a biker and have been for nearly 20 years - I have 2 road bikes and 2 off road bikes, but all road legal and all used where I'm allowed to use them.
The parents that buy these things are mindless idiots who probably can't even see their own stupidity. I can't sympathise with them when their little chav is killed in a crash, but I can hugely sympathise with the poor driver who might have driven over them, and then be having to live with the memory of a squashed child under their wheels.

Or just weak minded.

I have a sixteen-year-old son who as pestered for a bike for years, but he hasn’t got one.

When he leaves school gets a job and as his own money then its up to him what he does, hopefully by then the idea of illegal off road biking will not be as appealing. If he does get a bike I would hope he would be using it legally, going to college, going to work etc.

No sympathy at all. If he hadn’t been there, it wouldn’t have happened. He WAS there, so he deserves all he gets. At the moment, it’s one biker off the illegal road — and that’s got to be GOOD NEWS!

No sympathy at all. If he hadn’t been there, it wouldn’t have happened. He WAS there, so he deserves all he gets. At the moment, it’s one biker off the illegal road — and that’s got to be GOOD NEWS!

Hear hear, one down, plenty to go!!!

i once hit some wire stretched across the path while go karting on my home made go kart in woodhouse

I think he got what he deserved. And as for his mum...
If he rides so fast that he can't avoid stationary objects, what would he have done if a small child had stepped out from behind a tree? The guy's an idiot. I don't think the trap-setters should make a habit of such potentially lethal methods - perhaps give it a rest now and hope the word gets round that the majority of people have had enough of these "bikers" and their unsociable nuisance.

i think the barbed wire is a little harsh if not f*cking stupid, obviously its wrong but to try and kill them is just a little full on in my opinion

On 10-03-2006, 11:11 AM:
MOD: No you won't, that way ban purgatory lies. First, and only, warning. Thank you.

On 24-03-2006, 10:38 AM:
i think the barbed wire is a little harsh if not f*cking stupid, obviously its wrong but to try and kill them is just a little full on in my opinion
Oops!

As for my thoughts, well, you can't take the law into your own hands, but if you break the law you should suffer any consequences.

it should have ripped his big head off

Can we extend this vigilantism to other driving cases as well? For example, if I see someone drinking whilst drunk, can I hurl a brick through their windscreen as they drive past? If someone is driving without insurance, can I drop a lump of concrete off a foot bridge as they drive under it. :loopy:

It's basically the same thing as is being suggested by some people here.

Can we extend this vigilantism to other driving cases as well? For example, if I see someone drinking whilst drunk, can I hurl a brick through their windscreen as they drive past? If someone is driving without insurance, can I drop a lump of concrete off a foot bridge as they drive under it. :loopy:

It's basically the same thing as is being suggested by some people here.

like if i see someone breaking the speed limit can i also hurl a brick through the window? i dont think so, bricks would become sparse!

Maybe some bright spark at the council will get the bright idea of giving kids with or without moterbikes somewhere to go and something to do, You cannot blame children for riding on fields and around streets on there bikes, the parents should not buy the bikes without knowing of legal areas for there children to ride. In general children now days are "out of controll" but is it realy the kids/parents faults, when I was younger there was something to do at night and in school holidays, the youthi was open and in the hols they aranged trips out and short adventure hols to Walws, just as I reached 16 the club was clossed as funding was no longer available, there was between 50/60 kids there most nights with dissabled kids coming on thursdays which some of us helped out with.
So maybe the council should bear the brunt of peoples anger when there is nowhere for the kids to go exept the field behind your house.

It also looks like some poeple in here were never children.

Maybe some bright spark at the council will get the bright idea of giving kids with or without moterbikes somewhere to go and something to do, You cannot blame children for riding on fields and around streets on there bikes, the parents should not buy the bikes without knowing of legal areas for there children to ride. In general children now days are "out of controll" but is it realy the kids/parents faults, when I was younger there was something to do at night and in school holidays, the youthi was open and in the hols they aranged trips out and short adventure hols to Walws, just as I reached 16 the club was clossed as funding was no longer available, there was between 50/60 kids there most nights with dissabled kids coming on thursdays which some of us helped out with.
So maybe the council should bear the brunt of peoples anger when there is nowhere for the kids to go exept the field behind your house.

There are things for young people to do, I've just looked at the directory on the Council website, and typed in 'young' it includes go karting, youth clubs, music clubs, trampolining and loads of other things. http://dagda.shef.ac.uk/help_yourself/simple_search_description.asp?description2=young
Lets not go down the road again of 'the council should provide a track', its already been debated at length. I feel that many of the parents who give their kids these bikes would rather not have to make any effort to get them interested in anything, or take them anywhere. Much easier just to give them a bike and let them break the law, then moan when its confiscated, or even worse when the young rider or someone else is hurt or killed!

what the f**k are u chattin about, there is a difference between riding a bike and rape, you cant use that as a comparison.

Between sex with/without consent and biking with/without 'consent' of the DVLA, VOSA and an insurance company...

What are the problems in your argument again - other than rape will land you in jail for longer.

In general children now days are "out of controll" but is it realy the kids/parents faults, when I was younger there was something to do at night and in school holidays, the youthi was open and in the hols they aranged trips out and short adventure hols to Walws,

I'm not so sure. In the 70's and 80's growing up in Woodhouse there was nothing to do and we certainly didn't have access to the kind of entertainment that kids have now.

I hope they charged the kid with riding illegally

Where can you buy barbed wire????

[QUOTE=Mrs Macbeth]There are things for young people to do, I've just looked at the directory on the Council website, and typed in 'young' it includes go karting, youth clubs, music clubs, trampolining and loads of other things. http://dagda.shef.ac.uk/help_yourself/simple_search_description.asp?description2=young
[QUOTE]


Have another look at the link you posted though, kids dont want to join Concord bugle corp or Pitsmore black youth group. No when I was a teen there would have been no way you would have got me to any of those places.

i can see there point but that could have been lethal im a biker but only in legal areas or on the road but i hate how the lawless get decent biking people a bad name
Completely agree I ride a scooter n every1 thinks i'll just be some n*b, with no insurance and probable no CBT that drives on the pavement etc. like a minority do. The incident's terrible locals have gotta be complete mentalists, kind of thing i'd expect of royston vasey not round these parts:suspect:

Are running, cycling and horse riding legal on this track? If so the hate filled vigilante could have killed or maimed somebody doing a perfectly legal activity.

Even if the kid in question was taking part in an illegal, antisocial and irresponsible act that no excuse for trying to kill him I hope they catch whoever set the trap and they get a good long sentence, people annoying you is not a justification for attempted murder.

If I were plagued by this inconsiderate anti-social behaviour, decapitation of the culprits being rather too drastic a measure, I'd loosely suspend a thin string between two supports, tied to each end of which would be a tin can with pebbles in it.

Suddenly collecting this cheap and comparatively harmless contraption may startle some into realising just what they could have unwittingly ridden into... Those with an IQ exceeding their shoe-size would hopefully realise the risk they're taking in future.

Now... How to deal with the rest...?

I'm not so sure. In the 70's and 80's growing up in Woodhouse there was nothing to do and we certainly didn't have access to the kind of entertainment that kids have now.

Ok so what do the youth of today have to entertain them

Ok so what do the youth of today have to entertain them

A football, cinema, reading, running, bicycling, getting sticky fingers behind the bus stop, TV, Playstation, Xbox, how about even just talking to each other?

Lots of options before they turn - with their dullard inbred parents' help - to illegal motorcycling.