Helmet cam captures payback for catcalling van man
But is it real or fake?
A MOTORCYCLIST'S helmet camera captured the moment a female cyclist was apparently harassed by two men in a van and took revenge by ripping off the mirror.
The video went viral after being posted on the internet, but there's doubt over its authenticity, with some witnesses reportedly saying they saw it being set up.
The cyclist is seen waiting at traffic lights when the van pulls alongside and close to her in the area reserved for bicycles, boxing her in as the man in passenger seat shouts “All right? Want my number?”
As the motorcyclist pulls up behind, the woman slaps the side of the van and the man in passenger seat shouts “Woah! Woah! Don’t be like that.”
She says “Go away” and the motorcyclist, on a small-capacity Honda CBR, says “Oi!”
The van edges forward as she does, continuing to box her in, while the light remains red, and the man inside says something inaudible.
The woman then slaps the van’s mirror and the man says: “Woah, that’s not very lady like, is it?.
“What charm school did you go to, eh? You wanna tell your mum and dad to get their f*****g money back.”
The woman gestures and says something inaudible and the man says: “Shut up you old dog. You on your period?”
The man then reaches out of the window, apparently to touch the woman, while saying: “Listen, don’t be like that. Come on.”
She bats his hand away and he says: “Give me your number. We’ll go for a drink.”
The light then turns green and the woman gives the man the middle finger as the van pulls away from the junction, on Goodge Street in central London.
The van crosses Tottenham Court Road onto Chenies Street, with the cyclist and motorcyclist following.
When the van pulls into a parking space, the cyclist stops and uses both arms to rip the driver’s-side mirror completely off the vehicle before cycling away again.
The motorcyclist then pulls alongside the van and says “That’s exactly what you deserve, you scum!” before also riding away.
Doubts about the veracity of the video emerged after it was widely publicised.
Builder Scott Deane told The Sun he saw the woman cyclist taking instructions from a blond-haired man at the scene.
He said: "Three guys dressed in orange site clothes turned up in a van and the blond bloke was giving them instructions too.
"He was telling the girl, ‘You need to ride behind the van aggressively.'"
Jungle Creations, a company that released the footage, initially said "we don't think it's fake" before later admitting it "may be factually incorrect".
