British Rider Needed 17 Stitches After Hitting Barbed Wire Trail Trap
A British rider was left needing 17 stitches after hitting a barbed wire trap on a trail in Wales on Sunday morning. Warning: Graphic content below
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Tony Roberts, 39, was riding in Rhondda, South Wales, when he hit the wire that was obscured from view by branches, the Daily Mail reports. The wire wrapped around his neck but he was able to free himself and was then helped by onlookers before being taken to hospital.
His wife, Koral Clarke, said, "Specialist doctors were wondering if he needed surgery but luckily the surgeon managed to stitch him and he was allowed to come home to us... I want to spread awareness on how dangerous these acts can be."
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This isn't the first time barbed wire has been used in trail traps in the Rhondda Valley. In 2019, Wales Online reported that a dog walker discovered a trap at head height on a popular trail and in 2016, the Mirror reported that Ben Threlfall, a mountain bike guide and owner of the Afan Bike Shed, had to pull barbed wire from his throat after it hit him in the chest then slid up to his neck.
Police are investigating and have appealed for witnesses. Sergeant Karl Emerson, of South Wales Police, said: 'He was understandably traumatised by his experience and was very lucky not to have sustained an even worse injury. An investigation into the incident is underway. We can confirm it occurred on Sunday at around midday, on a Bwlch Mountain trail.
"It is understood that the barbed wire was obscured by branches and anybody cycling there should be vigilant and take extra care. Local officers are searching the area to identify exactly where the incident occurred and to ensure there is no further risk to the public."
Photos: Anthony Owens via Facebook
Tony Roberts, 39, was riding in Rhondda, South Wales, when he hit the wire that was obscured from view by branches, the Daily Mail reports. The wire wrapped around his neck but he was able to free himself and was then helped by onlookers before being taken to hospital.
His wife, Koral Clarke, said, "Specialist doctors were wondering if he needed surgery but luckily the surgeon managed to stitch him and he was allowed to come home to us... I want to spread awareness on how dangerous these acts can be."
This isn't the first time barbed wire has been used in trail traps in the Rhondda Valley. In 2019, Wales Online reported that a dog walker discovered a trap at head height on a popular trail and in 2016, the Mirror reported that Ben Threlfall, a mountain bike guide and owner of the Afan Bike Shed, had to pull barbed wire from his throat after it hit him in the chest then slid up to his neck.
Police are investigating and have appealed for witnesses. Sergeant Karl Emerson, of South Wales Police, said: 'He was understandably traumatised by his experience and was very lucky not to have sustained an even worse injury. An investigation into the incident is underway. We can confirm it occurred on Sunday at around midday, on a Bwlch Mountain trail.
"It is understood that the barbed wire was obscured by branches and anybody cycling there should be vigilant and take extra care. Local officers are searching the area to identify exactly where the incident occurred and to ensure there is no further risk to the public."
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But to be clear : This does not at all imply this person is not responsible.
This is nimbys plain and simple
Never underestimate just how much people lose all reasonable thinking when cyclists (of any kind) are involved.
"I once saw a perfectly reasonable chap slash the tyres of everyone in his street as they kept parking in front of his house"
That's in no way reasonable, at all. That's someone out of control and badly in need of some therapy for whatever he's got going on. Maybe not mental ILLNESS, per se, but not a well-balanced individual in control of their emotional responses. Small quibble, but still.
Such a homicidal prick deserves zero benefit of doubt.
If, when caught, it turns out to be a case of a certified basket case - by all means, let his lawyer make that case. Otherwise, such a person should be punished to the fullest extent, for all to see.
This isn't childish shenanigans gone wrong. A concealed barbed wire at neck level is calculated attempted murder.
U total mf ucker
Selective empathy and sense of entitlement don't make you mentally ill. Don't get me wrong, I totally believe that a person who sets traps like that is a total dirtbag/shit person/etc but that doesn't make them mentally ill - in the same way as being mentally ill doesn't automatically turn you into someone considering acts like this. A mental illness is, like a physical one, doesn't necessarily make you commit shit acts (most people who are mentally ill are more likely to commit violence against themselves rather than others)
As a person I cannot understand or sympathize why someone would set up traps like that - despite the fact that I have a recognised mental illness (PTSD) and it can get sorta stigmatizing, if you catch my drift, that the moment someone does something despicable everyone goes like 'he must be mentally ill' while apparently most perpetrators of crimes are in fact perfectly sane.
Feels like there is a parallel here that could be explained by mental illness or at least someone who is completely out of sync with what a proportional response should be to their anger. I agree with you that this DOES NOT eliminate the need for punishment. Especially in the era of twitter headline moral outrage it's hard for people to hold two nuanced beliefs in their head at the same time. I hope we can all agree this is totally unacceptable, must catch the person responsible and hope the victim has a full recovery.
In our areas I've seen 9inch nail traps which could kill you on the spot, and here they would let those people off because "they're poor or uneducated". Everywhere its a different PC excuse to let people off, while innocent people end up hospitalized. I can't take that approach.
You live in a pretty good place if plain stupidity, by definition, always comes before malice.
Just imagine, shooting people because they have a gun on their hands.
Mental illness or a combination of boredom, entitlement and just being a terrible human being?
You then start discussing their accountability, This imaginary mentally ill person you made up who committed the crime according to you.
Mentally ill people are just as likely to be "good" or "bad" as neurotypical people. Please get back in your Delorean and take your shit to the 80's where it belongs.
the APA (american psychological assosciation) has a very interesting link on this, if you'd be interested in a follow-up read (www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2014/04/mental-illness-crime)
Transgression of (societal) boundaries and violence, two behavioural patterns that are inherent to criminal activites are not an aberration - they are part of all of us. Anger and hatred are strong emotions but the loss of one's own control is not necessarily pathological - it is criminal.
Is this point of view desperately hopeful of mankind and blind to the fact that traumatized, cruel, violent, etc. make up a significant (and growing ?) portion of the population ? Sure. But I have (and everyone has) in their surroundings people who are perfectly sane in their mind, who don’t feel triggered by everything said to them, who can be serious and light-hearted at the same time, and most importantly who give a f* and listen to you when you talk to them. They have gone through the same traumas as everyone else, but did a better job of recovering, by themselves or with help, and are more at peace with the world.
You just can’t set barb wire traps during the day and go to sleep at night feeling ok. Something is not functioning well.
As for mental illness, maybe we have a semantics issue. Studying of the course of events / childhood / cultural surrounddings of a human being, forming his character and influencing behavior in future settings, isn’t that a whole field of science where some behaviors are then considered pathological / abnormal ?
Loonie Karen. I know that bitch.
Maybe not first page but it was mentioned on 21st December
I'm hoping for a thorough and successful police investigation, because this was nothing less than a murder-attempt.
Screw that, hung by the wire they used in a town square. The soft on crime attitude is what breeds it.
But we live in a civilized society, so we can't enjoy such basic justice
Would you be ok with the same punishment for someone that fires a weapon into a crowd without aiming at anyone specific?
May or may not hit someone, may or may not injure someone, may or may not kill someone.
Do you truly believe you think someone willing to commit murder to a stranger is going to feel kinder to that group of people because they got them put away?
@TheR : whats the long term goal here?
God knows what the trail saboteurs motive was, typically around here its trespassing. I've been threatened with knives by a lot of fishermen for being on "their" rivers, but it's just basic tribalism.
"There are 2 people on your street who hasn't paid their TV-loicense"
You probably have CCTV in your bathroom by now, you live in a dystopian nightmare, yet you claim UK > USA in freedom??
Hahahaha
Yeah dude please tell this your government.
Science said different things and I do not go a for, trust the gut.
Science > rest
Your government have lead your people into this mess and now your locked into a downward spiral. Very sad but true.
The fact that I saw people fighting over CCTV in the middle of nowhere in Scotland was really crazy. Imagine this, your walking the western Highland way an have a good time away from everything and get tho the first warm place with a meal for hours and then you see this.
You clearly could hear them how they freaked out about the CCTV.
I have nothing to say about the CCTV other then I saw this and I never will forget it.
My god you guys are digressing!
Forget about which systems punishes prisoners and which reforms them. I think we can all agree that the core idea of criminal justice is, eventually, to deter others from repeating similar crimes. Now, seeing as this is not the first incident in this area, and seeing as many local riders are not entirely surprised by such crimes, pretty much proves that whatever punishment was dealt in previous cases- did not get the job done.
Now, as much as it seems you're enjoying taking jabs at eachother's nationality, I think you sort of missed the point. This isn't NRA gun laws, neither is it fighting IRA separatists. Since that perpetrator is likely British, I'd hope the British justice system knows how punish him/her in a way which would deter as many other similar a**holes as possible. Be it locking him up for life, or just prohibiting him from ever drinking tea... whatever they deem as worse
@foxinsocks I agree, I guess my point was that if they catch the perpetrator, realistically they will just face a prison sentence, which is as likely to encourage them to repeat offenses as it is to discourage. There are a LOT of prison guards and police calling for reform to lower reoffense rates but it appears to be a slow process, with most of the resistance from frothing eye-for-an-eye short sighted attitudes.
They actually had choppers with food and people the evening I was there.
Really a nice remote place.
@foxinsocks yea, I agree.
ever wondered why the NHS always has a winter crisis? no matter how much money they get? lol
I know it's in the British DNA to wait in queues, but I choose not to wait 5 months when I need a collar bone fixed.
When was the last time we had to launch a gofundme for a British rider who couldn't afford their medical bills?
of course, the gov would also have to get out of the way and let the health care providers actually supply the things customers are asking for....but that's clearly asking too much!
There is enough data out there comparing the US freedom healthcare to NHS.
I saw a post on FB on a riders group from a teen who did torn something and could not pay for the surgery. He asked what can he do.
So this is what you wanted? f*ck that.
I will wait...
Unfortunately for them (and other MTBers) this equestrian owned the land and subsequently curtailed bike riding on his property.
Until she found another rider further down the hill an it all started again.
I spend a lot of time on my local trails both on my bike and walking my dog and have met a number of hikers with fairly extreme views of mountain bikers based on some bad encounters. I myself have also had some bad experiences, which is not to say, there aren't hikers out there looking for conflict, but I would say please be civil with people on the trails. If you see a hiker pull over on the trail, thank them and ride past SLOWLY.
I've spoken to one dog walker in my neighborhood in particular that actually actively engages in conflict with mountain bikers! Some teenagers even called the police on him this summer. All I can say is the guy seems very unstable and illogical and there is no point in even trying to reason with the guy..... oh ya and he's a prof at a respected university... so not stupid, but has a pretty sever personality disorder in my non-medical opinion!
Bottom line, please be respectful and don't engage with these people!
People are humans and humanity is dumb as f*ck
Sick world we live in, with too many broken a*sholes to count. Be careful out there!
Trusted community communication about trail conditions is necessary to notify and prevent these deliberate acts by sick minded individuals. Some type of flag in Trailforks perhaps to share this data by ranked riders?
After much aggravation And a few crashes i set up trail cameras.
I caught one woman in the act (She had a dog that tried to bite bikers) and tried to get ger to stay and wait for police, she ran i followed. The sherrif didnt want to come, but eventually did cause i persisted in following her. She admitted to doing it, and i had photos of her in the act. They refused To makeany kind of Charge against her, essentially giving her Behaviour the green light.
I caught a number of other people in the local "obsidians" hiking group setting static boobytraps as well on trail camera. I got identifiable high quality photos of them, should have been easy to track them down. The eugene parks and Open spaces staff and the police/sherrif both declined any kind of action to protect all of us who ride in our public spaces. They essentially are condoning such Violent behaviour where im from.
According to social scientist bicyclist meet the criteria of a discriminated minority group.
Great healing vibes to you!
In all seriousness this is becoming way too common place and I really don’t look forward to the day that there is a fatality due to these cowardly acts. But unfortunately I think that is where we are headed. Maybe authorities need to set up game cameras and be a bit more proactive instead of canvassing after the fact?
This happened to me many years ago. Barbed wire at neck height on a very fast section of trail. I only saw it as it was Autumn/Winter, the sun was still low and picked out the dew that had settled on the wire. I stopped inches away. More recently, and becoming quite common, we're finding logs or sticks arranged at angles over the crests of blind features or around corners. There are some miserable f*ckers out there; and don't get me started on all the new dog owners who clearly have no idea how to train their fur babies. I've been bitten twice this year, both times I'd stopped!
(And if you haven’t figured out that it’s a joke and I’m just messing with you as a friend does to another friend, humor, coming from the source of just trying to make you laugh)
Merry Christmas
That’s what we have found in Tenerife during the last year.
www.cbc.ca/amp/1.4216322
Sound familiar Braden?
Don't buy from this guy - he'll stiff ya
If I imagine who would do such a thing it‘s either some “grownup“ who feels threatened by other people doing stuff he*she doesn‘t want them to do or some stupid kids doing a “prank“ and not thinking through to the consequences. Both cases are absolutely vile, but I wouldn’t want to murder a kid because they‘re stupid. They probably won‘t ever do something like that again.
Just an educated guess, but something like this trap in most of America would probably be 6 months to a year sentencing with part of the jail time waived for probation and the time spent in jail prior to sentencing counting against the total (time served) so very little jail time - maybe a few weeks to a month or two. I'm not sure they'd even get that much time except that the pictures here are so brutal.
Lawyers make a difference but the bottom line is capital punishment is just falling out of favor. Many of those people on death row have been there a long time, Death sentences have been falling every year since the late 90s and many states with death penalties haven't actually executed someone in decades. The actual number of people executed was in the teens for the last couple years.
But that's not bikes- checking out.
I also work on fence line a lot, barbed and regular wire, and while I've definitely hurt myself, I've never managed to clothesline myself at speed. Maybe you do things differently though.
Unfortunately there's issues out there, and this article could make someone track walk / check before going down their local route and potentially save a life.
He’s riding in Wales, in Winter, nobody is riding in short sleeves for any length of time. Do you think perhaps he might have changed his shirt or removed the jersey he was wearing over it?
It’s only fishy to those who lack critical thinking.