A moped-riding robber who attacked a cyclist in Cambridge has been jailed for more than three years. Luke Elmer, 19, was riding the motorbike along Mill Road with another man on 3 August last year when they approached a cyclist on a bridge.
As they overtook, the man riding on the back of the motorbike raised his middle finger in a gesture towards the cyclist. When the victim, a man in his 30s, got to the other side of the bridge he noticed the moped parked by the side of the road.
Elmer and his accomplice got back on and rode alongside the victim, with the second man grabbing his t-shirt to make him stop.
Elmer then punched the victim twice to the face before riding off. The victim continued cycling along Mill Road, but a few moments later he was cut off by the pair for a second time.
He was punched again before one of the men demanded he hand over his wallet and threatened to stab him. The frightened victim complied, and the pair rode off.
The victim suffered swelling, bruising and cuts to his face and a suspected broken nose. On footage, Elmer can be seen confronting the victim and punching him, with his accomplice loudly calling him “Elms” several times before they left.
A few minutes later Elmer and another man, who wore a facemask, went to a shop in Mill Road where they used the victim’s bank card to make two transactions totalling £108.20p.
A police officer who viewed still images from the shop’s CCTV identified Elmer and he was arrested.
He admitted robbery, assault causing actual bodily harm, fraud by false representation and failing to surrender to bail.
On October 2 at Cambridge Crown Court, Elmer, of Camborne Drive, Hemel Hempstead, was jailed for three years and two weeks.
His accomplice was never identified.
DC Sarah Longbottom said: “Elmer’s behaviour that day was absolutely disgraceful. He clearly felt he could rob and attack the victim with impunity.
“The victim was minding his own business, cycling along, when Elmer and his accomplice targeted him in this completely unprovoked attack.
“I’m pleased he was identified, and he has now faced justice for his actions.”
