Authorities turn on motorcycle victim
After a pet dog was almost killed by a reckless teenage motorcycle rider on a track near Grenoble Road last week, the police have rounded on the dog’s owner for contacting the local press.
Greater Leys resident Dave Troth called the police after the incident to ask for something to be done about the illegal motorcycle and mini-moto riders plaguing the estate.
His Staffordshire bull terrier, Jazz, had to undergo emergency surgery to save her life.
She is now in a stable condition but it remains to be seen whether she will lose her sight in one eye.
Dave later spoke to the Oxford Mail, describing what happened: ‘The motorcycle rider came heading towards me and he didn’t stop or swerve out of the way. He hit me at about 50mph, knocked me spinning to the floor and hit my dog at the same time.
‘I don’t know what part hit me. I got up and saw my dog on the ground. It smashed all her eye in. I picked her up and ran home-there was blood everywhere.’
Dave himself suffered muscle damage to his left shoulder.
But in a bizarre move the police reprimanded Mr Troth for contacting the Oxford Mail, claiming that as a result the youth responsible had received threats.
Dave denied any knowledge of the threats.
‘I don’t condone people taking action themselves against this youth,’ he said, ‘In fact I want it to be dealt with properly through the courts.
However, it’s only right that the young yob should be aware of the anger felt by residents over his reckless motorcycle-riding.’
Mr Troth has previously appealed to the city and county councils, with the backing of the IWCA, to do something about the problem but so far no action has been taken.
IWCA councillor Stuart Craft commented: ‘Unfortunately this case clearly illustrates the fact that a minority of antisocial youths currently enjoy the luxury of doing whatever pleases them, without fear of sanction.
‘Long-suffering residents are constantly told by the authorities that if they lift a finger to defend themselves they are somehow “vigilantes”, yet when they look to the law to protect them they are often left with the impression that the needs of the criminal minority come first.’
In the latest development to the story the Oxford Mail reported on the alleged threats to the motorcycle rider.
The article featured the youth’s mother defending her son, saying he was ‘devastated’ and would like to apologise but was too afraid to visit the Troths.
Dave Troth said, ‘He didn’t seem very apologetic just after he drove into Jazz. There were three lads taking turns riding the motorcycle and it was a straight path so they could clearly see me and the dogs.
The first slowed down when he approached us.
The one who hit me made no attempt to slow down or avoid us.
If he is genuinely sorry then he might consider trying to pay the vet’s bill which is likely to run into thousands of pounds.’
Leys Independent, issue 33, August 2006
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