Off-road biker suffers life threatening injuries in crash on Doncaster street: police column

I have this month taken over from Lynne Lancaster as the neighbourhood inspector for the area, having previously been serving in the same role in Doncaster East.

One of the recent incidents that my officers in the central district has have had to deal with includes a biker suffering critical, life threatening injuries while riding an off road motorbike at Beckett Road.

He was not wearing a crash helmet. And in another incident in the same area a man suffered a broken collarbone.

They came off their motorbikes and collided with street furniture. People may think it’s great to ride an off road motorcycle, but they may not appreciate the risk. This is not the first time this sort of accident has happened. I would urge people not to take this sort of risk with their safety.

The motorcycle crash is not the only incident to occur on Beckett Road recently.

Early in the morning of Tuesday September 3, at around 6am, we received a call from a worried member of the public who had found a man at a bus stop, bleeding from a wound to his leg.

The incident was a suspected stabbing that led us to investigate what had happened. Our officers were called to protect the scene of the suspected crime near the market.

The injured man was taken to hospital after the incident. His injuries were not thought to be life threatening. A suspect has been charged with assault in connection with the incident.

Another arrest that week saw a man detained on High Street on Sunday September 1, in connection with a commercial break-in at 15s pub.

He has been charged with burglary, threats to commit criminal damage, a public order offence and assault.

There has been an issue with commercial burglaries in the town centre. Earlier in the summer we have made five arrests, which led to prison sentences of between six months to three years being issued. Two of these offenders had refused any support from the the council’s complex lives team and were a nuisance to other vulnerable people on the street, and certainly at the end of July, we had recorded fall of 82 per cent in this sort of crime, compared to May 2019.

Some town centre premises have been visited by our crime prevention officers, and we have also rolled out Smartwater to town centre businesses, which allows them to tag items with a unique chemical marker. It will assist in detecting perpetrators after any crimes take place, and should have a deterrent value.

Smartwater has also recently been rolled out on some of the housing developments at Lakeside. We have seen a few issues of attempted break-ins and theft from vehicles. There has been a good take-up of the Smartwater in that area.

We recently charged a man with theft from a motor vehicle after stopping him on his bike in that part of the borough.

One area that has seen a recent increase in break-ins is Bessacarr and Cantley.

In one case, three cars were stolen from a driveway at a house on Whin Hill Road. They thief had broken into the house to take car keys.

On that basis, we have made Besscarr and Cantley a priority area for patrols. Some of the crimes have happened in cases where people have not locked their houses, and it is still rare for burglars to smash a window to get in. But we do see people snapping certain types of lock to get in.

To prevent, this, we recommend home owners consider fitting snap safe lock cylinders to upvc or composite doors which are of minimum 3* standard. Exterior wooden doors should have a five lever mortice lock fitted and consider fitting a top and bottom bolt to patio or French doors. Furthermore, ensure your house and car keys are kept in a safe place and out of sight. There are a host of other crime prevention methods you can consider which can be found on our website – www.southyorks.police.uk under the ‘Find out’ icon.

Antisocial behaviour and homelessness in the town centre has been an issue for some time. At the end of last year, there were 67 people on the streets classed as homeless. But the latest figures we have now places that at 12.

The problem may not be completely solved, but we have made huge in-roads.

Finally, if you live on Queens Road, Balby, you may have seen a police presence last week.

That was because we arrested three men on suspicion of possession of class A, B and C drugs with intent to supply.

I have done many years work policing Doncaster’s neighbourhoods, covering most parts of Doncaster. I think the town centre has different challenges from other parts of the borough, supporting businesses in the town centre as well as its residential areas and rural parts. There are a wide range of communities to help and support, to identify their issues and do what we can to address them.

We also have the night time economy in the town centre, and I am keen to support that and make sure we have a safe Doncaster for the bars, restaurants and entertainment venues.

I’m looking forward to meeting the local business community and residents.