ROAD CLASH
Shocking moment ‘lunatic’ driver yells at nude cyclists before knocking them down as they raise cash for charity
THIS is the shocking moment a “lunatic” driver yelled at a pair of naked cyclists before knocking them down.
The bike riders Colin Unsworth, 52, and Sadie Tann, 31, are raising money for charity and were cycling through the countryside on the outskirts of Perth, Scotland, on July 4 when they were confronted.
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As they are cycling along, a car slows down and turns into their tandem bike and the female passenger can be heard shouting at the couple: “You’re a f*****g prostitute”.
The couple were knocked to the ground and they claim the car later turned around and came back, although both were left unhurt after the incident.
Colin, from Adlington, Lancashire, said he was stunned by the amount of aggression displayed, adding they had received lots of positive feedback on their charity ride.
He said: “Most people laugh or give us a thumbs up, or they'll ask us what we're doing and we just say it's for charity and they wish us luck.
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“[But] in Perth, we got attacked by a lunatic driving their car into us.
“We always knew there would be some people who would ring the police or whatever, but I wasn't expecting that level of aggression from a member of the public.
“It shook us up a lot, but physically we are uninjured but it really made us cautious about where we get naked again and which naked stretches we do.”
The police are taking the incident seriously, Colin said, and could press charges if the culprits are found.
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He said: “They are taking it very seriously because the car was driven past us and then turned around and came back for us.
“We were on Facebook live when it happened so there's video evidence of them in the car, driving past us and then turning round and coming back after us.”
A spokesperson for Police Scotland said: “Police enquiries are ongoing after a 52-year-old man and a 31-year-old woman who were riding a tandem bike were deliberately driven at and struck by a car on the A912 near to Bridge of Earn around 2 pm on Monday, 4 July.
“They did not require hospital treatment. Enquiries are ongoing.”
Colin and Sadie set out to cycle 50 miles a day in order to raise money for the mental health charity Mind and Rewilding Britain, which aims to address environmental issues.
Colin said: “I've been following the progress of Rewilding Britain and rewilding projects for a long time and I just think it is a fantastic thing that we should all be talking about.
“As naturists who are into nature connections and value mental health, we thought what we can we do to do some sort of stunt to raise awareness.
“The Rewilding Britain website says think big and act wild, well there's no bigger bike ride and it's a pretty wild day to do it.”
Police Scotland confirmed there is no criminal investigation into the naked cyclists.
The Sexual Offences Act 2003 established that nudity is not necessarily a criminal offence in England but it can be if it is used to cause harassment, alarm or distress.
People are unlikely to be arrested if they are well behaved while naked.
Guidelines issued by the Criminal Prosecution Service state: “In the absence of any sexual context and in relation to nudity where the person has no intention to cause alarm or distress it will normally be appropriate to take no action unless members of the public were actually caused harassment, alarm or distress (as opposed to considering the likelihood of this).
“In this case such conduct should be regarded as at most amounting to an offence under section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986; and regard needs to be had to the question of whether a prosecution is in the public interest.”
The pair say they have gained an “overwhelming” amount of support since they began their journey and have had people giving them lunch and places to sleep overnight.
Colin said: “The majority of people will pip their horns and wave or laugh at us.
“We get people who overtake us, turn around and pull into the side of the road to take a video.
“I think most people can see we are not doing any harm, and we are doing something that's quite brave.”
He added: “As we was coming up outside Edinburgh Castle, there was a coach load of Japanese tourists and we could just hear the uproar and the laughter.
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“They were all absolutely rolling around laughing, trying to get their cameras out.”
The pair are continuing their journey around the country and aim to finish at John O’Groats at the end of July.
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