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Injured cyclist's hour-long police wait after crash

Tom Jackson,in Cambridgeand
Aimee Dexter
News imageTom Jackson/BBC Francisco Campis is standing off centre to the right of the frame. He has short brown hair and moustache and is wearing a black T-shirt and a grey jacket. He is standing in front of a row of trees and bushes.Tom Jackson/BBC
Francisco Campis said a wound on his arm from the crash got infected

A cyclist has described how he waited for police for more than an hour after he was hit by a speeding motorbike on a footpath.

Francisco Campis said he was in Cherry Hinton in Cambridge last week when a teenager on a motorbike - part of a group he claimed "were going at least 40mph" - crashed into the front of his bicycle.

The PhD exchange student said he called police several times and added: "I was waiting for more than one hour with my elbow bleeding and full of dirt."

A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Police said: "A review will be completed to make sure we didn't miss any opportunities with this call."

Campis, who is 27 and from Brazil, has been in the city for five months. He was riding home on the narrow path which runs between the Mill Road area and Cherry Hinton.

"The first moment I thought it might be an e-bike, so I reduced my speed and kept going, then I saw them going full speed and I managed to stop but they hit me," he said.

"It blew up my tyre and broke my front wheel."

He said he fell, injuring his arm and both of his hips, and was left "in shock".

"I got a big scratch on my elbow and I spent hours bleeding as I called the police who said to wait," he explained.

Campis said he later found his injuries were infected and he sought treatment at hospital.

There were families in the area at the time of his collision, he said, including children on small bikes.

News imageTom Jackson/BBC A pathway goes between two rows of hedges and bushes. In the foreground on the left there is a silver pole which has a blue rectangular sign attached to it. The sign has a white arrow on the left and a bicycle on the right.Tom Jackson/BBC
Campis said the incident happened in Cherry Hinton

A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Police said the force "tried to send officers to the scene" but were dealing with an alleged knifepoint robbery.

"Demand for our services is high and we have to prioritise every call for service alongside the crimes and incidents ongoing at that time, meaning we have to make some difficult decisions around resource management," they said.

The spokesperson said officers later went to the scene, before then being called away to another incident.

They said the force had since made "efforts to contact the victim".

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