Barbaric! Motorbike thugs hurl a brick into MP’s face
He had shouted at the pair to stop tearing up a quiet street
‘Terrorising neighbourhoods’
AN MP was attacked with a brick after he challenged two thugs on motorcycles about their anti-social behaviour.
Steve McCabe became the latest victim of the motorbike yob crimewave when the pair of hoodlums hurled objects at him on a quiet street in his constituency.
The Labour MP for Selly Oak in Birmingham tweeted pictures of his bruised faced and images of his attackers in fullface helmets, and appealed for the public’s help finding them.
The incident on Monday evening follows a spate of robberies by armed thugs on stolen mopeds or motorcycles.
Last month Danny Pearce, 31, became the first person to die in a moped mugging when he was stabbed in the neck for his Rolex watch as he left a jazz bar with his girlfriend in south-east London.
Describing how he was attacked with a stone and a brick as he visited constituents with party volunteers, Mr McCabe, 61, said: ‘A couple of characters… started doing wheelies in the middle of the road. I shouted at them to pack it in.
‘One got off the bike and chucked a stone at me and the other one chucked something at the side of my head.’
The MP added: ‘It could have been an awful lot worse. It could have been my eye. I regard myself in that respect as fortunate.’
He said of his attackers: ‘These are really quite nasty, violent thugs. Somebody clearly knows who they are – the problem is people are terrified of these thugs.
‘It is a big issue in south Birmingham – they are terrorising neighbourhoods – but I don’t think there is a direct connection in that they knew who I was. I think that’s just the way they treat anybody who dares to challenge their behaviour.’
He added he was feeling ‘a bit battered and bruised, but I think I’ll live’. He was due to have X-rays to check his injuries.
West Midlands police were hunting for the suspects yesterday.
Mr McCabe posted pictures of the pair on Twitter, writing: ‘Sure somebody recognises these two. All I need are names and addresses. Send them anonymously and I’ll do the rest with the police.’
The MP received messages of sympathy from colleagues across the parliamentary spectrum. Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner wrote on Twitter: ‘That’s shocking Steve, that could have been a very lot worse! I really hope the police find the culprit.’ Tory MP Tom Tugendhat tweeted: ‘I’m so sorry to hear that. I wish you a speedy recovery and that the police catch these thugs.’
Jo Swinson, deputy Liberal Democrat leader, wrote on the social network: ‘Horrific! Hope they catch them asap. TLC, hope you feel better soon.’
Robbers on motorcycles armed with knives, machetes, power tools and even fire extinguishers com- mit up to 50,000 offences a year across the country – a 600 per cent rise since 2014. In London alone, there were 11,389 crimes involving motorbikes, mopeds and bicycles last year, a seven-fold rise on 2015.