Cyclist told ‘don’t do that route again’ after robbers ‘battered him with hammers’ for £500 bike

A brutal attack victim has spoken out on the ‘trauma, flashbacks and his safety fears’ for Birmingham’s canal towpaths as his attackers ‘roam free’. Blood poured down his face after he claims he was battered with hammers for his £500 bike in broad daylight. Masked thugs ‘pounced’ on the then 64-year-old from Hall Green as he made his way through an underpass along a Small Heath canal.

Breaking his silence after a series of incidents on the city’s towpaths , the victim believes the robbers ‘planned the attack, with one texting the people in the tunnel’ to let them know he was cycling down, he claims. Bloodied, he staggered out into the road to see a number of drivers pulling over to help. The now 66-year-old claims police, who were out on scene within two minutes, had warned “don’t do that route again” following his terrifying ordeal.

He had been out enjoying his “regular cycle” from Hall Green, down the Stratford canal to Kings Norton, up through Birmingham and out toward Olton on October 27, 2021 at the time. Read more: Family broken as ‘true hero’ boy dies aged five at Birmingham Children’s Hospital He’s never once gone back to his old route. Recalling the attack to raise awareness of the ‘dangers’, he told BirminghamLive : “I was coming up to Small Heath and there was a guy sitting on one of the lock gates with a phone just before a tunnel.

And I said to the police ‘I think he text the people in the tunnel. ‘ “As I went through the tunnel a guy pushed me and I nearly went into the canal. If I’d had gone in the canal that could have been good night Vienna.

He came up and hit me a few times and then I was trying to sort of hold him off and then someone came up behind me and whacked me on the head with a hammer. “I fell down and as I got up they were going away with the bike and I grabbed the back tyre and they were going up the ramp to get on the road towards Small Heath and another hammer blow came on my head. I staggered into the road and my head was like that photo I showed you; all the cars were stopping.

” Passersby phoned the police, who took him to hospital. “I had this great big bandage on my head and that was just soaked in it,” he added. He was cleaned up, X-rayed and stitched up before being discharged to be cared for by a relative.

“I’ve come out alright but I do get flashbacks from it now and again where I think I’m fighting them – I think it’s the trauma of it sometimes,” he said. “There’s been quite a few attacks on there and police said to me ‘don’t do that route again’: what sort of message does that send out? You see the odd police now and again but they’re too stretched aren’t they?” Latest crime ‘When will the violence end?’ ask th. .

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. He claims his cash and phone, which were in a bag attached to the bike, were also stolen as attackers rode off with his belongings. “It’s getting worse now,” he suggested.

“Someone’s going to get badly hurt. ” He added: “CCTV would be ideal but to put CCTV in parts would cost a horrendous amount and it’s all about cost at the end of the day. ” BirminghamLive has contacted West Midlands Police for a statement.

Have you been affected by violence on Birmingham’s canal towpaths? We would like to hear from you. You can contact us by emailing stephanie. balloo@reachplc.

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