Fines for cyclists caught riding illegally

Ha ha ha ha

http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.u...ail/story.html

Cyclists have paid the price for illegally using an historic pedestrian
route as a short-cut.

Police handed out £30 fines to 16 cyclists during a three-hour operation in
New Walk, Leicester, yesterday.

One cyclist was handcuffed and arrested after refusing to give his details
but was released when he eventually co-operated with the officers and
accepted the fine. Although the bylaw, which prohibits cycling along the
path is always in force, Leicestershire police stage crackdowns once or
twice a year to remind people that it is in offence. Sergeant Andy Cox,
from Mansfield House police station, in the city centre, said yesterday's
operation, which saw officers stationed at several points along New Walk,
came following an increase in complaints. He said: "We've had a lot of
residents complaining about cyclists in New Walk and a couple of people who
have been bumped. There have been disagreements between cyclists and
pedestrians.

"We're just trying to raise awareness that this is one part of the city that
you can't cycle through. "Everyone we've stopped said they ride along here
all the time and didn't know you're not supposed to." Riders face a £30
fine if they fail to obey signs prohibiting cycling on the walkway, which
has been a vehicle-free zone since 1785.

Cyclists have previously appealed against the bylaw, saying New Walk was the
safest route through the city. Sgt Cox said it was not for police to decide
whether or not the law should be changed. "This is a conservation area and
people living here don't want it to change," he said. "You can't please
everyone."

Ian Shipley, 56, who sells the Big Issue outside New Walk Museum, said too
many cyclists were flouting the law. He said: "I see it happening every
day. People walk out on to New Walk and bikes are coming down at them - and
the cyclists don't really look where they're going.

"There was one the other day that clipped a pushchair. Another split- second
and it would have caused a lot of damage.

"There are signs at every entrance but I do think maybe there should be more
or bigger signs."

A 25-year-old woman from Leicester's West End, who did not want to be named,
said she regularly cycled along New Walk.

"I think there is more than enough room for cyclists and pedestrians. We
should be encouraging people to cycle more," she said.

"It's a waste of police time to be giving cyclists fines. As long as people
are cycling responsibly, I can't see why it is a problem."

QUOTE:
A leading sports lawyer believes the lifetime ban from competing in
the Olympics imposed by the British Olympic Association (BOA) on
athletes convicted of doping offences will be ruled invalid by the
Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after a hearing due to take place
next Monday. Should that happen, athlete Dwain Chambers and cyclist
David Millar would be available for selection for London 2012.

Howard Jacobs was a member of the legal team that last October
succeeded in persuading the CAS to rule invalid an International
Olympic Committee (IOC) ban on athletes returning from a doping
suspension from competing in the next Games, in a case brought by US
400m runner and Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt.

The CAS held that the ban, under Rule 45 of the Olympic Charter,
constituted an additional sanction on athletes already punished for a
doping offence. It also ruled that it was invalid under the World Anti-
Doping Code (WADC), to which the IOC is a signatory, and the Olympic
Charter itself, since it is deemed to include the WADC by
incorporation.

While Millar, who served a two-year ban from 2004 to 2006 after
confessing to EPO use, said last year that he did not intend to
personally challenge the bylaw preventing him from being selected, the
BOA has asked the CAS to rule on its validity after it was called into
question by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Jacobs maintains that the BOA is likely to lose the case. "When I
heard the BOA's response to the cAS decision, what they were saying
sounded a lot like what the International Olympic Committee were
saying, trying to characterise the rule as an eligibility rule as
opposed to a sanction,” he told the BBC.

"It was exactly the same thing as the IOC did in our case, so it
strikes me that this type of characterisation is not likely to be
successful.

"I think it's most likely that the rule will be found to be a
sanction," he continued. "Then it will be a question, as it was in our
case, of whether the rule is invalid.

"Essentially, all the anti-doping rules are bound by the concept that
the penalty has to be proportionate to the offence.

"As you start adding additional penalties, you get closer and closer
to the point where perhaps penalties are disproportionate.

"One of the arguments made in our case was that if the IOC and others
want a rule like this, then the way was not to introduce it
unilaterally but to attempt to go through the Wada process and have a
debate among stakeholders.

"The legal minds could weigh in as to whether that type of rule would
be enforceable or not."

Chambers had sought to have the BOA ban overturned in the High Court
prior to the Beijing Olympics four years ago, but Jacobs believes that
the CAS hearing will result in a positive outcome for athletes in his
position.

"Frankly, Dwain Chambers, his situation was nine years ago," he
explained. "He's served his penalty, he's come back, he's allowed to
participate as a member of other British teams.

"To me, it doesn't make sense that you're going to keep him out of the
biggest competition for his sport and somehow say that's not an
additional sanction."

Millar, too, stripped of his 2003 world time trial championship when
he was banned, has competed for Great Britain in the UCI road world
championships since his return to the sport, winning silver in the
same discipline at Geelong in 2010. The same year, he won Commonwealth
gold in the time trial, representing Scotland.

Last year, the Garmin-Barracuda rider acted as road captain to the
British team when Mark Cavendish won the rainbow jersey in Copenhagen.
Cavendish has said he believes Millar is “redeemed” and should be
allowed to compete.

Another member of the team that day, Bradley Wiggins, claimed with
some justification that he had been quoted out of context by the BBC
when it said that he had maintained that Millar should not be eligible
for selection for the Olympics.

Since his return to competition Millar has become a leading advocate
against the use of performance enhancing drugs, including sitting on
WADA’s athletes' panel and helping British Cycling and UK Anti-Doping
introduce systems to help prevent young athletes from making the same
mistakes he did.

This week, he called on the IOC to fund a rigorous testing programme
ahead of the Olympics, saying that current proposals, which will see
5,000 tests conducted starting 11 days prior to the Games and during
the fortnight they are on, does not start early enough.

He also says that there is a big disparity in the approach taken by
different countries, reports The Daily Telegraph.

"For drugs such as HGH and EPO, the window for using them is in the
preparation phase, not actually during the Games or just before them,”
Millar explained.

"They are hormonal-based which aims to make your body stronger to
perform and you would be doing it in the two months beforehand, with
the idea then to rest up and have a clean system going into the Games.
That's how it works.

"The testing during the Games is a fantastic deterrent but it's a
pretty stupid athlete who would be using drugs during the Games," he
continued.

“The IOC need to research exactly what all the national anti-doping
organisations are doing and if there is a fixed criteria of testing
for competing nations.

"UK Anti-Doping are on top of it and we want the British team to be
the cleanest team in the Olympics but what about all the smaller
nations?

"Often a lack of funds is a problem when it comes to the number of
tests a country can carry out.

"The IOC has all this money coming in from the Olympics so perhaps
they should level the playing field for all athletes so that all
countries carry out similar testing to the UK, Australia, USA and
France," Millar added.

In a statement, the IOC said that it “is responsible for the testing
programme carried out during the period of the Games which starts on
the opening day of the village on July 16 and ends on the day of the
Closing Ceremony.

"This programme includes systematic urine and blood post-event testing
as well as random testing.

"In addition, it is worth noting that all actors of the Olympic
Movement (national and international federations, national Olympic
committees and national anti-doping organisations) usually intensify
their testing efforts in the period leading up to the Olympic Games in
order to ensure that only clean athletes make it to the Games.

"This pre-Games testing programme proved to be efficient prior to the
Beijing and Vancouver Games," it concluded.

http://road.cc/content/news/54209-bo...lls-more-tests

--
Simon Mason

Ha ha ha ha

http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.u...ail/story.html

Cyclists have paid the price for illegally using an historic pedestrian
route as a short-cut.

Police handed out £30 fines to 16 cyclists during a three-hour operation in
New Walk, Leicester, yesterday.

One cyclist was handcuffed and arrested after refusing to give his details
but was released when he eventually co-operated with the officers and
accepted the fine. Although the bylaw, which prohibits cycling along the
path is always in force, Leicestershire police stage crackdowns once or
twice a year to remind people that it is in offence. Sergeant Andy Cox,
from Mansfield House police station, in the city centre, said yesterday's
operation, which saw officers stationed at several points along New Walk,
came following an increase in complaints. He said: "We've had a lot of
residents complaining about cyclists in New Walk and a couple of people who
have been bumped. There have been disagreements between cyclists and
pedestrians.

"We're just trying to raise awareness that this is one part of the city that
you can't cycle through. "Everyone we've stopped said they ride along here
all the time and didn't know you're not supposed to." Riders face a £30
fine if they fail to obey signs prohibiting cycling on the walkway, which
has been a vehicle-free zone since 1785.

Cyclists have previously appealed against the bylaw, saying New Walk was the
safest route through the city. Sgt Cox said it was not for police to decide
whether or not the law should be changed. "This is a conservation area and
people living here don't want it to change," he said. "You can't please
everyone."

Ian Shipley, 56, who sells the Big Issue outside New Walk Museum, said too
many cyclists were flouting the law. He said: "I see it happening every
day. People walk out on to New Walk and bikes are coming down at them - and
the cyclists don't really look where they're going.

"There was one the other day that clipped a pushchair. Another split- second
and it would have caused a lot of damage.

"There are signs at every entrance but I do think maybe there should be more
or bigger signs."

A 25-year-old woman from Leicester's West End, who did not want to be named,
said she regularly cycled along New Walk.

"I think there is more than enough room for cyclists and pedestrians. We
should be encouraging people to cycle more," she said.

"It's a waste of police time to be giving cyclists fines. As long as people
are cycling responsibly, I can't see why it is a problem."

On Mar 8, 9:28*am, Simon Mason wrote:

"The IOC has all this money coming in from the Olympics so perhaps
they should level the playing field for all athletes so that all
countries carry out similar testing to the UK, Australia, USA and
France," Millar added.

It's a crying shame that David may not be allowed to be at this year's
games.

--
Simon Mason

http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.u...ail/story.html

Cyclists have paid the price for illegally using an historic pedestrian
route as a short-cut.

Police handed out £30 fines to 16 cyclists during a three-hour operation in
New Walk, Leicester, yesterday.

One cyclist was handcuffed and arrested after refusing to give his details
but was released when he eventually co-operated with the officers and
accepted the fine. Although the bylaw, which prohibits cycling along the
path is always in force, Leicestershire police stage crackdowns once or
twice a year to remind people that it is in offence. Sergeant Andy Cox,
from Mansfield House police station, in the city centre, said yesterday's
operation, which saw officers stationed at several points along New Walk,
came following an increase in complaints. He said: "We've had a lot of
residents complaining about cyclists in New Walk and a couple of people who
have been bumped. There have been disagreements between cyclists and
pedestrians.

"We're just trying to raise awareness that this is one part of the city that
you can't cycle through. "Everyone we've stopped said they ride along here
all the time and didn't know you're not supposed to." Riders face a £30
fine if they fail to obey signs prohibiting cycling on the walkway, which
has been a vehicle-free zone since 1785.

Cyclists have previously appealed against the bylaw, saying New Walk was the
safest route through the city. Sgt Cox said it was not for police to decide
whether or not the law should be changed. "This is a conservation area and
people living here don't want it to change," he said. "You can't please
everyone."

Ian Shipley, 56, who sells the Big Issue outside New Walk Museum, said too
many cyclists were flouting the law. He said: "I see it happening every
day. People walk out on to New Walk and bikes are coming down at them - and
the cyclists don't really look where they're going.

"There was one the other day that clipped a pushchair. Another split- second
and it would have caused a lot of damage.

"There are signs at every entrance but I do think maybe there should be more
or bigger signs."

A 25-year-old woman from Leicester's West End, who did not want to be named,
said she regularly cycled along New Walk.

"I think there is more than enough room for cyclists and pedestrians. We
should be encouraging people to cycle more," she said.

"It's a waste of police time to be giving cyclists fines. As long as people
are cycling responsibly, I can't see why it is a problem."

On Mar 8, 9:31*am, Simon Mason wrote:
On Mar 8, 9:28*am, Simon Mason wrote:



"The IOC has all this money coming in from the Olympics so perhaps
they should level the playing field for all athletes so that all
countries carry out similar testing to the UK, Australia, USA and
France," Millar added.

It's a crying shame that David may not be allowed to be at this year's
games.

--


He will be sorely missed on the Team Sky team.

--
Simon Mason

"Mr Benn" wrote in message
...
http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.u...ail/story.html

Cyclists have paid the price for illegally using an historic pedestrian
route as a short-cut.

Police handed out £30 fines to 16 cyclists during a three-hour operation
in
New Walk, Leicester, yesterday.

One cyclist was handcuffed and arrested

Was he? were DNA, fingerprints,etc taken?


after refusing to give his details
but was released when he eventually co-operated with the officers and
accepted the fine. Although the bylaw, which prohibits cycling along the
path is always in force, Leicestershire police stage crackdowns once or
twice a year to remind people that it is in offence. Sergeant Andy Cox,
from Mansfield House police station, in the city centre, said yesterday's
operation, which saw officers stationed at several points along New Walk,
came following an increase in complaints. He said: "We've had a lot of
residents complaining about cyclists in New Walk and a couple of people
who
have been bumped. There have been disagreements between cyclists and
pedestrians.

"We're just trying to raise awareness that this is one part of the city
that
you can't cycle through. "Everyone we've stopped said they ride along
here
all the time and didn't know you're not supposed to." Riders face a £30
fine if they fail to obey signs prohibiting cycling on the walkway, which
has been a vehicle-free zone since 1785.

Cyclists have previously appealed against the bylaw, saying New Walk was
the
safest route through the city. Sgt Cox said it was not for police to
decide
whether or not the law should be changed. "This is a conservation area
and
people living here don't want it to change," he said. "You can't please
everyone."

Ian Shipley, 56, who sells the Big Issue outside New Walk Museum, said too
many cyclists were flouting the law. He said: "I see it happening every
day. People walk out on to New Walk and bikes are coming down at them -
and
the cyclists don't really look where they're going.

"There was one the other day that clipped a pushchair. Another split-
second
and it would have caused a lot of damage.

"There are signs at every entrance but I do think maybe there should be
more
or bigger signs."

A 25-year-old woman from Leicester's West End, who did not want to be
named,
said she regularly cycled along New Walk.

"I think there is more than enough room for cyclists and pedestrians. We
should be encouraging people to cycle more," she said.

"It's a waste of police time to be giving cyclists fines. As long as
people
are cycling responsibly, I can't see why it is a problem."

"Ian" wrote in message
news

"Mr Benn" wrote in message
...
http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.u...ail/story.html

Cyclists have paid the price for illegally using an historic pedestrian
route as a short-cut.

Police handed out £30 fines to 16 cyclists during a three-hour operation
in
New Walk, Leicester, yesterday.

One cyclist was handcuffed and arrested

Was he? were DNA, fingerprints,etc taken?

I hope so.

On Mar 8, 9:39*am, "Ian" wrote:

One cyclist was handcuffed and arrested

Was he? *were DNA, fingerprints,etc taken?

No of course not - not for such a trivial matter.

--
Simon Mason

wrote in message
...
On Mar 8, 9:39 am, "Ian" wrote:

One cyclist was handcuffed and arrested

Was he? were DNA, fingerprints,etc taken?

No of course not - not for such a trivial matter.

--
Simon Mason

I'm glad you're taking part in the thread and am reading what I post.