Campaigners are calling for naked bike riding to be banned in Britain after a nude cyclist was attacked by a vigilante binman.
Robert Brown was taking part in a World Naked Bike Ride event in Colchester, Essex, on August 9 when Lee Turnage, 46, drove up behind him on a motorbike and sent him crashing to the floor.
Footage released by the Crown Prosecution Service shows Mr Brown, wearing nothing but a helmet, cycling down a residential street moments before Turnage draws level with him and delivers a punch that sends him clattering to the pavement.
Unbeknownst to Turnage, the riders were taking part in a World Naked Bike Ride event.
His lawyer told Ipswich Crown Court that he ‘reacted very badly to what he thought of – to use the vernacular – as perverts cycling naked in what was a residential area’.
Turnage last week avoided jail as he was handed a 14 month sentence, suspended for two years, for assaulting Mr Brown and attacking two police officers who arrived to arrest him at a pub.
The cyclists say they take part in the annual ride to protest against car culture, demand safer cycling conditions and highlight environmental concerns such as oil dependence and climate change. They also advocate for a more body-positive world.
Organisers say it does not breach the Sexual Offences Act 2003, which states public nudity is not an offence as long as its not done with intent to cause alarm, harassment or distress.
Robert Brown (pictured) was taking part in a World Naked Bike Ride event in Colchester, Essex, on August 9 when Lee Turnage, 46, drove up behind him on a motorbike and sent him crashing to the floor
The council binman was caught on camera punching Mr Brown during the naked charity ride
But the incident has renewed calls from critics to cancel the World Naked Bike Ride event over safety concerns.
Emma-Jane Taylor, who started the campaign against the naked bike ride, told the Mail she fears more incidents like this will happen if the event is allowed to continue.
Ms Taylor, who founded the Not My Shame social media movement, said: ‘I do not condone violence but I believe there will be more of these incidents. The public are hacked off with the way these events are being authorised by councils, police.
‘My local MP wrote to the city police, Met Police and Sadiq Khan for comment on my behalf about these events. No response I received was adequate, nor did it reflect the reality of what these events bring to the dangers of child protection.
‘I feel that the political world brushes these conversations away, when in actual fact they are extremely important to be having!
‘I have been contacted by nudists who do not support the Naked Bike Race because they do not believe it represents the beauty of what being nude means in the right space – and certainly not on the streets waving your bits about!’
Ms Taylor has launched a petition to stop the naked ride, declaring: ‘This event has creeped easily and slowly into society without anyone really knowing about it, but it now needs to creep out quickly.’
The incident in Colchester was also discussed on Nick Ferrari’s LBC show this morning.
Listener Lloyd, from Hackney, east London, said he takes part in the naked bike ride every year.
Lee Turnage, 46, walked free from court last week after assaulting the man while on his motorcycle and attacking two police officers who arrived to arrest him
Emma-Jane Taylor (pictured), who started the campaign against the naked bike ride, told the Mail she fears more incidents like this will happen if the event is allowed to continue
Discussing the event, he said: ‘I’m not sure why it was created, it started a lot longer before i started cycling naked. I happened to see it once in London, and my mate was on it, I waved him down.
‘I’m a naturist anyway. It just feels natural, there is nothing more natural than being naked. You are born naked. Society has built up this whole ‘it’s disgusting, it’s disgusting’. Kids don’t think it’s disgusting, they run around naked.
‘It’s just as soon as society puts these pressures or morals on you.’
Meanwhile Jennifer, from Kensington, west London, said: ‘I’m not a naked cyclist but I went on the first ever naked bike ride, which was well organised. I found out about it in Time Out. It was a beautiful warm day, we had to meet at 11am in Hyde Park.
‘When I got to Hyde Park half were already naked, the other half were taking their clothes on.
‘The reason they went on this first ever naked bike ride was to do with pollution. I can’t remember the details, but it had something to do with pollution. We had a police escort on bicycles all the way round the route.’
A third listener, Malcom, from York, said he took part in the naked ride because it is a ‘protest’.
‘If you can see me naked, why don’t you see me with my clothes on? Be aware of cyclists when you’re driving,’ he said.
Reform MP Lee Anderson told the Daily Mail that police could not simple ignore ‘flashers on bikes’.
‘Nothing surprises me anymore in this country. Our streets are already riddled with crime, illegal migrants, anti social behaviour and now we have these flashers on bikes. Our streets have become a freak show,’ he said.
In a victim impact statement read, the charity cyclist who was attacked said: ‘This was a charity bike ride – nothing like this has ever happened to me when taking part in the numerous rides I have completed.
‘I have been struggling with sleep because of the pain in my leg – there is no let-up in it and it won’t go away.
‘The injuries sustained have impacted me greatly, especially in regard to my mobility.
‘I am more reliant on a stick and putting more weight through it because of the pain.
‘My leg remains swollen to this day, meaning I need to keep it elevated as pouch as possible. Some days it feels like that pain will never end.
‘Friends I do see spend time looking after me – they have become more like carers than friends.’
