15-year-old boy arrested after violent attack on cyclist near Box Hill which left victim seriously injured with punctured lung when masked thugs on motorbike kicked him off popular cycle path

A teenager has been arrested after a cyclist from Surrey was violently attacked by masked thugs on motorbikes while using a segregated cycling route near Box Hill, the rider suffering broken bones and a punctured lung when he was aggressively kicked from his bike last Wednesday evening.

After releasing a still image of the attackers, along with video footage of the attack, captured on the cyclist’s rear facing camera, in a bid to identify those responsible for the “vicious” and “unprovoked” assault, Surrey Police confirmed on Friday that a 15-year-old boy has been arrested in connection with the incident.

“A 15-year-old boy from Leatherhead has been arrested in connection with our investigation. He has since been released on bail,” the force told road.cc on Friday.

Whether the incident was an attempted bikejacking remains unclear, however, numerous similar incidents of masked motorbike riders targeting cyclists to rob them of bikes having been reported across London, Kent and Surrey in recent times.

At around 7.30pm on 29 May, Matt Farr was cycling back to his home in nearby Leatherhead having completed a lap of the popular Box Hill climb made famous by its inclusion in the 2012 Olympic Games road races and which sits just a mile south of where the violent attack happened as he rode along the shared-use infrastructure that runs parallel to the busy A24.

Riding towards Givons Grove roundabout, Matt heard the sound of a motorbike approaching but assumed they were on the dual-carriageway.

He was then "suddenly and violently pushed down onto the ground" (with the footage released by Surrey Police later revealing that he was kicked by the motorbike's passenger) and has little memory of anything before being helped by several cyclists and walkers who were passing by and reported seeing four people on two motorbikes without number plates, none of the suspects wearing helmets and with their faces instead covered by bandanas or balaclavas.

According to Surrey Police, the dirt bike riders then continued on towards the roundabout, where they took the first exit onto Leatherhead Road.

Coincidentally, the author of this story was cycling up Box Hill at 7.15pm on Wednesday and was shouted at by four people matching the description speeding down the climb on motorbikes towards where the incident occurred just minutes later.

On Monday 3 June, Surrey Police launched a witness appeal and said they were seeking information about "the riders of a dirt bike". The force initially uploaded a still image from the cyclist's rear-facing camera footage (which he still has not received back or viewed himself) but this was quickly deleted, the force telling us this was because it is believed both suspects are under 18.

Following contact from road.cc on Tuesday 4 June, Surrey Police reinstated the photo of the suspects to its appeal, the force stating it came following authorisation from a senior officer due to the serious nature of the injuries sustained.

A spokesperson told us: "We can make an exception for issuing images of under-18s in more serious cases if we have the authorisation of a senior officer. In this instance a senior officer has now authorised the subsequent release of the image due to injury levels, and we have now updated our appeals to reflect that.

"However, not releasing an image with our appeals does not mean that we treat offences less seriously if committed by a suspect who is thought to be under 18. Media appeals are just one investigative avenue available to us, and our officers make sure to exhaust all lines of enquiry as part of a thorough investigation."

And on Wednesday 5 June, the force released a 14-second clip of the footage captured by Matt’s camera, as part of the force’s appeal for information.

The footage (which has since been removed from this story due to the age of the boy arrested) shows the motorbike rider and a passenger riding at speed past two pedestrians, before the passenger kicks Matt and sends him clattering to the ground.

While two bikes were reported using the cycle path by witnesses, Surrey Police says it is concerned with the actions of the first dirt bike rider and passenger.

The force said: "The driver has been described as a White male, of medium build, wearing a dark grey hoodie, navy trousers, and a balaclava. The passenger has also been described as a White male of large build with dark hair, wearing a dark jacket, grey trousers, and black trainers."

“This is a serious assault which has left a man with significant injuries.  We’ve released this footage, which was captured at the time, to show the shocking nature of this unprovoked attack,” Inspector James Green, Borough Commander for Mole Valley, added on Wednesday, before confirming the arrest two days later.

Recalling the incident, which saw him spend four days being treated at East Surrey Hospital, Matt told us: "I don't remember much after [being pushed]. Shortly before, I had heard a motorbike behind me but assumed it was on the road rather than the cycle path. I suffered four broken ribs, a punctured lung, broken shoulder blade, concussion and numerous cuts, scrapes and bruises and have only got out of hospital today [Saturday].

"I had a rear-facing camera on my bicycle and the police attending the scene took the memory card, so I haven't seen the footage yet. I'm still waiting to hear back from the police but I'm not hopeful of the culprits being caught. I'm yet to assess the damage to my bicycle but can see at least the levers have taken a lot of damage. My cycling kit was cut off me in A&E and my helmet took several heavy hits so this is definitely going to cost me a minimum of multiple hundreds of pounds just for equipment, plus many months to get my fitness back again. It's really truly horrible.

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"I couldn't believe how violently I'd been shoved, I just remember feeling that I was rotating to the left incredibly quickly, there was literally nothing I could do and it was a fraction of a second before I hit the ground. It was bizarre and obviously they'd kicked or pushed or done something on the way past, it wasn't like a glancing blow or like I was hit from behind. It was a sideways shove basically, so it must have been deliberate."

The police told Matt it is unlikely the four people could be traced due to the lack of number plates and the fact they had hidden their faces, raising concerns about repeat incidents in the future.

"My immediate thought, because they weren't wearing helmets, was that they must have been local rather than coming out from London, they must have not come very far," the cyclist continued.

"Maybe it was just for fun, who knows? I was quite beaten up from it and was lying by the side of the road for about two and a half hours before the ambulance. Lots of people stopped and helped and there was a couple who were walking who got there first that don't live that far away, so they were nice and brought my bicycle back home."

Matt admitted being unsure about what it would be like when he is able to return to riding outside and will be "setting up Zwift" in the meantime once he is sufficiently recovered. 

"I might be completely fine or I might have some kind of post-traumatic and be unable to get on the bike again outside, I really don't know, hopefully it's the first," he explained.

"I was on my own and I think when the roads are really busy it's probably less of a worry but if you're out on your own on an evening, which quite a few people do over the summer, I think it's good to be a little bit forewarned. If I'd known about it, I don't know, maybe I would have looked behind and got out the way or stopped, I don't know. It's just so unnecessary [...] people riding motorbikes down the cycle lane not wearing a helmet with bandanas over their faces... they're not people who care about consequences.

"At the end of the day the chance that happens to you is obviously still going to be very small, I was probably very unlucky, but you'd like to think the chance would be zero."

There have been numerous incidents involving motorbike-riding masked attackers targeting cyclists, often in bikejacking incidents, across the countryside surrounding south London in the past few years. The motive in this case remains unclear, the cyclist's bike and property having not been taken.

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In 2022, British Cycling stepped in to say it was "deeply concerned" by a spate of violent bikejackings across south London. In the most high-profile incident, in autumn 2021, professional cyclist Alexandar Richardson was knocked off his bike, dragged for 100 metres by muggers on motorbikes, and threatened with a machete during a shocking bikejacking in Richmond Park.

In April of last year, a teenager, aged 15 when Richardson was attacked, was jailed for 12 months for the bikejacking.

Another professional cyclist, former Scottish champion Jennifer George said she no longer rides alone after she was similarly attacked by two people on a motorbike during a long ride from her home in south east London out to Surrey.

"I've never felt so vulnerable in my life. I've never felt so terrified in my life," she said.

A chase ensued, with the attackers trying to veer into the 39-year-old. When George asked them to leave her alone, one of the attackers said "no, why should we?" She managed to make it to a busy pub nearby, and collapsed having a panic attack.

Seven weeks later George was targeted by two more would-be attackers on mopeds, and she was forced to wait in a driveway for half an hour until they had gone. She reported both incidents to the police, with Surrey Police filing details of the first incident due to limited lines of enquiry, and Kent Police failing to respond at all. 

> "They said give us the bike or we stab you": Another cyclist targeted by motorbike-riding muggers on popular route out of London

A member of Penge Cycling Club narrowly escaped a robbery attempt near West Wickham, around five miles west of Orpington, during which the rider was told he would be stabbed if he did not give up his 2022 Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL7.

While another incident saw a Trek Domane SL6 and Wilier GTR forcefully taken by a group, described as "youths on mopeds" by one victim and "four males on mopeds" by the other.

Duncan Dollimore, head of campaigns at Cycling UK, said he believes criminals are attracted towards stealing high-end bikes because the potential money to be made from selling them on far outweighs the chances of getting caught.

"It is possibly perceived as a low-risk crime if the numbers of people being caught are so low," he explained. "It may be seen as a high-reward, low-risk crime.

"There have been increasing concerns about people cycling out of London to the Kent and Surrey hills who have been victims of muggings or robbery. There are a limited number of routes where people would cycle out of London.

"Somebody has posted on Strava what they are doing on their ride. The criminals will know it is someone on a £3,000 to £4,000 carbon fibre bike who has unwittingly signposted the fact that they are likely to be heading out to Kent or the Surrey Hills. It is on the police's radar."