Club run - van passenger slapping incident

[ufkacbln]

That just about sums it up for me. This was an act of gross stupidity that could have ended badly but to label it as sexual assault is ridiculous. How could you possible prove that the guy was aiming for her arse? Even if he was he was hanging out the side of a moving van, so it would be difficult to prove that he intended to smack her on the bum..

Fine - he must have been trying to grab the bike then?

 

[Vapin' Joe]

A few thoughts here -

You can bet your life the bastard's done it before.
If he isn't apprehended he will do it again.
He could cause a serious or fatal accident, not just with the assault but in getting close enough to carry it out from a moving vehicle.

If he ends up on the sex offenders register as a result of his aggressive bullying then tough tit, it's no more than he deserves and it lets like minded peanuts know that unprovoked assaults on innocent people can have serious (and well deserved) consequences.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Extremely well put. Society is going to the dogs because too many people have a Laissez-faire attitude to anti-social or criminal activity. These idiots need to be reminded that they are in the wrong and that their actions carry consequences.

A few thoughts here -

You can bet your life the bastard's done it before.
If he isn't apprehended he will do it again.
He could cause a serious or fatal accident, not just with the assault but in getting close enough to carry it out from a moving vehicle.

If he ends up on the sex offenders register as a result of his aggressive bullying then tough tit, it's no more than he deserves and it lets like minded peanuts know that unprovoked assaults on innocent people can have serious (and well deserved) consequences.

 

[4F]

oh do come off it. Yes this muppet needs the book thrown at him but to suggest he is added to the sex offenders register is barking mad.

 

[Canrider]

So basically the only thing that made it not sexual assault was that it was a mixed ride?

 

[Arch]

Perhaps we just need a 'complete tossers' register....

I suspect (and this is of course all supposition) that he was plainly aiming for people's bums, because that's the most inviting target on a cyclist, especially in Lycra, plus there's a sort of 'comedy bottom slapping' precedent. He probably didn't think of the bums in any sexually gratifyingly way. So perhaps he needs a severe attitude adjustment about other people's bodily rights. Too many people get away with the excuse of 'not thinking'.

 

[Dave Davenport]

How about a seperate 'what constitutes sexual v common assualt?' thread in P&L?

 

[slowmotion]

oh do come off it. Yes this muppet needs the book thrown at him but to suggest he is added to the sex offenders register is barking mad.

I think that the point that some people are making is that leaning out of a vehicle and slapping somebody on the bum really isn't some kind of "jolly jape" by Dennis The Menace, even if they think it will just make the rider wobble (titter, titter) in cartoon style. It's bloody dangerous and could kill them. If there is a possibility of a japester being labelled a nonce, and it works as a deterrent, , it has to start somewhere.

BTW, wasn't there a thread a while ago about this kind of behaviour leading to deaths, somewhere in Kent?

 

[Vapin' Joe]

How about a seperate 'what constitutes sexual v common assualt?' thread in P&L?

Walk down your local high street, slap a woman on the bum and the police will decide that for you.

 

[Dave Davenport]

Walk down your local high street, slap a woman on the bum and the police will decide that for you.

That's considered a sophisticated chat up round here!

 

[Norm]

Walk down your local high street, slap a woman on the bum and the police will decide that for you.

If you were to specifically select a female victim, a sexual assault charge might be appropriate.

I wonder if the female could be even identified as such from behind by someone who was so inherently "gifted" that they do such things from a sign-written van.

It's disappointing that some are singling out the slapped female for attention, without reference to the assault on the other two (presumably male but not identified as such) victims. It strikes **groan* me that such comments show underlying attitudes which could themselves be considered fairly sexist.

However...

If he ends up on the sex offenders register as a result of his aggressive bullying then tough tit, it's no more than he deserves and it lets like minded peanuts know that unprovoked assaults on innocent people can have serious (and well deserved) consequences.

... I can understand this line of thinking. I don't agree that it was a sexual assault but, if using such charges against those in the van either takes them off the streets or brings them to their senses, I can see that the ends might justify the means.

 

[4F]

I dont think that these idiots had any idea of the sex of the cyclists but that they were just trying to idiotically slap as many as possible. I hope that the book gets thrown at them, they are charged for assult and the driver gets sacked

 

[vernon]

That's considered a sophisticated chat up round here!

It's foreplay where I come from.

 

[PaulB]

I once slapped a woman's arse and got a complaint...that I neglected to slap the arse of the woman next to her as well. The slappee was my missis as I lapped her in a road race but the woman running next to her was a stranger to both of us. As I ran past and slapped away, she said to my missis, 'What's wrong with my arse? Why did he slap yours instead of mine?' and she was serious. My wife reckons this woman was disappointed when she discovered the slap was a friendly one and she felt neglected. So there's times it's appropriate...and times it isn't. Takes the judgement of Solomon, that one.

 

[asterix]

Apart from anything else, the driver must have taken the van too close to the cyclist in order to enable his passenger to reach. So both should be in the dock.

(Looking back a few posts, I see I am agreeing with blue icicle.)