Cyclist pushed into canal, Manchester

[Richard Fairhurst]

I'm watching a documentary on TV with narrow boats on a canal shown. Everyone in shot is wearing an automatic inflation life jacket.

That'll be at the TV producers' insistence, I suspect. In reality very few adult boaters, apart from Canal & River Trust staff, wear a lifejacket on the canals. Narrowboaters do often wear them on rivers, though it depends on the river - tidal Trent most definitely, Warwickshire Avon perhaps less so.

Most boater deaths on the canals are due to carbon monoxide poisoning (cold night, put the fire on, block up the vents to stop the draught ) or accidents at locks.

[thirdcrank]

On the matter of people being pushed in the canal, a few months before I retired, in the relatively early days of DNA identification, a DNA analysis was made in relation to serious sex crimes but without a match to anybody on record. By no means unusual then because the routine collection of specimens from those arrested was quite new.

One of the offences had culminated on Globe Road, by the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in the city centre. Here's the relevant bit:-

in the car park that night, he forced his way into a 26-year-old woman’s car, drove her off, threatened to shoot her in the back of the head and raped her. When he had finished with her, he gagged her and bound her ankles and wrists with electric cable, pulled a shopping bag over her head and drove her to the banks of the Leeds and Liverpool canal, where he shoved her in. The woman was out of her depth in freezing water which rapidly filled the bag over her head. Barwell stood on the bank and watched her struggling. Kicking out, the woman felt a large stone on the floor of the canal and managed to get her feet onto it and to push her face above the water. She wriggled free from the cable and took the bag from her head. Barwell cursed her from the bank and, in fear, she turned and thrashed through the water to the far bank and safety. Barwell fled in her car, which he abandoned and torched.

http://www.nickdavies.net/1999/09/17/ge ... e-barwell/

I knew that the assailant had been arrested after I retired, but I was unaware of the rest of the story.

[pwa]

If we see a canal tow path as a shared use path, many shared use paths are a bit of a risk, especially at night. They are an obvious venue for a nutter wanting to have a go at random strangers. Tow paths just have the added danger of water.

[mercalia]

On the matter of people being pushed in the canal, a few months before I retired, in the relatively early days of DNA identification, a DNA analysis was made in relation to serious sex crimes but without a match to anybody on record. By no means unusual then because the routine collection of specimens from those arrested was quite new.

One of the offences had culminated on Globe Road, by the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in the city centre. Here's the relevant bit:-

in the car park that night, he forced his way into a 26-year-old woman’s car, drove her off, threatened to shoot her in the back of the head and raped her. When he had finished with her, he gagged her and bound her ankles and wrists with electric cable, pulled a shopping bag over her head and drove her to the banks of the Leeds and Liverpool canal, where he shoved her in. The woman was out of her depth in freezing water which rapidly filled the bag over her head. Barwell stood on the bank and watched her struggling. Kicking out, the woman felt a large stone on the floor of the canal and managed to get her feet onto it and to push her face above the water. She wriggled free from the cable and took the bag from her head. Barwell cursed her from the bank and, in fear, she turned and thrashed through the water to the far bank and safety. Barwell fled in her car, which he abandoned and torched.

http://www.nickdavies.net/1999/09/17/ge ... e-barwell/

I knew that the assailant had been arrested after I retired, but I was unaware of the rest of the story.

thats a chilling story

[Annoying Twit]

I've twice had people try to push me into a canal/river. Once on my bike. There were some younger people on the canal path and I saw them nudging each other as I approached. When I cycled past they were (I believe) pretending to fight then one of them bumped into me hard. As I was prepared I didn't go in. But, if I hadn't been suspicious, I probably would have been.

I reported it to the police but they were spectacularly incompetent. I suspect from the reply I received from the police with someone else's details and a description of them actually being pushed into the canal that someone else was pushed and went in.

I've had another experience of someone trying to push me into a river, but wasn't on my bike at the time. They attempted to take my bike as they left but, unsurprisingly, it was locked to a fence. They just pulled it a bit then ran off.

[abzmanc]

This is my commuting route so it was troubling when I first heard the story last week on a local Facebook group. At the time the reports has not been confirmed by GMP and had been rubbished by some group members. I only cycle during daylight so not too worried but it's still troubling to think that there could be someone like that out there...

Certainly don't want to jump on the pusher bandwagon, but as has been said many of the deaths where related to individuals coming home from a night out so likely intoxicated and therefore easier targets if there was someone out there.

Speaking of ****s, I was on that canal last week when some 'Yuuf' was cycling in my opposite direction so moved over a bit (I was on the side closest to canal) and just looked at him to ensure there was sufficient space and give a nod of the head when he barked 'MOVE!'. If the pusher is reading this... He's one that won't be missed.