Cyclist claims he was ticketed by police for violating the Human Rights Act by 'cycling no handed'
4 July 2025, 09:03 | Updated: 4 July 2025, 10:50
A cyclist has claimed that he was given a ticket by a City of London Police officer under the Human Rights Act for cycling no handed.
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Paul Powlesland, a barrister, shared a video on X showing a conversation he had with an officer from the City of London Police who had stopped him for riding his bicycle 'no handed'.
The officer can be heard telling Mr Powlesland that 'cycling with no hands on the handle bars places other road users at risk' and that this violates Article 2 of the Human Rights Act.
Article 2 of the Human Rights Act protects a person's right to life.
I recently got stopped & ticketed by the City of London Police for, & I kid you not, “cycling no handed”. Even though it’s clearly not an offence, the officer said they were ticketing me under the Human Rights Act as I was infringing other people’s Article 2 ‘Right to Life’, in… https://t.co/LU4BUKZZ4w pic.twitter.com/3DBE6XUgSN
— Paul Powlesland (@paulpowlesland) July 3, 2025
Mr Powlesland wrote on X: "I recently got stopped & ticketed by the City of London Police for, & I kid you not, 'cycling no handed'.
"Even though it’s clearly not an offence, the officer said they were ticketing me under the Human Rights Act as I was infringing other people’s Article 2 ‘Right to Life’, in case I fell off and injured them: utterly bonkers stuff."
He shared his post in response to the City of London Police launching its Safer City Streets campaign on July 2 that focuses on 'offences that matter to communities'.
An example the force shares is of cyclists going through red lights.
We've launched our summer campaign Safer City Streets.
— City of London Police (@CityPolice) July 2, 2025
The campaign focuses on offences that matter to communities, like cyclists going through red lights.
Nearly 300 cyclists have received fixed penalty notices for going through red lights so far this year. pic.twitter.com/VRRiwO4lUz
Mr Powlesland, in both the video and the social media post, criticises police for focusing on someone cycling 'no handed' as opposed to tackling bike theft and e-bike phone muggers.
He added: "With bicycle theft basically legalised in the City due to the complete failure of the Police to bother investigating such thefts and people being regularly terrorised in London by e-bike phone muggers, it’s good to see the City of London Police concentrating the resources on what really matters."
Read more: Hundreds of town centres to see more police patrols in crime ‘blitz’
A City of London Police spokesman told MailOnline: "We’re aware of a social media post that shows a small clip from a longer interaction between a cyclist and a City of London Police officer on April 2 2025.
"The cyclist approached the officer and during their three-minute chat, the Human Rights Act was mentioned. The cyclist was not ticketed on this day, but he had approached the officer because she had issued him a ticket on March 5 2025 in the City of London.
"On March 5 2025, the officer observed the cyclist riding with his arms stretched out wide and off the handlebars during rush hour.
"The officer stopped the cyclist and issued him with a ticket for careless and inconsiderate cycling under s29 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.
"A ticket was processed on May 19 2025. Should the cyclist contest the ticket, officers will attend court and present any relevant evidence that we have obtained."
