Police apologize to rider they are investigating for calling Gypsy ‘a pikey’ – as they confirm they are now also investigating him for assault and abuse

Police have apologized to a rider under investigation for calling a gypsy a “pikey” after launching an assault investigation against him.

Cambridgeshire Police have confirmed they are investigating the 40-year-old woman for an alleged “racially aggravated comment”, despite closing their investigation into the man’s alleged actions.

It comes after she claims she was riding with her husband and 14-year-old daughter on a single-track country road in The Fens when, during an argument with two men, one of them drove a vehicle and hit a horse

During this time, when on the phone with the police, she said “F— off you pikey”.

Officers were called and were then told she was “suspected” of making a racially aggravated comment while they investigated the woman’s allegations, meaning they were closed until further information came to light.

However, the force has now hit back, saying it “should never have been closed at such an early stage” and reopened its investigation into the man’s alleged actions.

The entire incident took place on Tuesday morning when the mother was out with her family.

While riding, she claims two men approached them at 50km/h before slamming on the brakes, spooking two of the horses.

The Highway Code requires drivers to pass horses at a maximum of 10 mph and a distance of at least two meters or six feet. Image: Stock image of riders on the side of the road

She claimed the driver and passenger “jumped out of the vehicle and lunged at my daughter”.

She said her husband, a retired Armed Forces officer, “jumped off his horse” and ran towards the daughter, at which point he was “pushed” by the driver, before the father was pushed back in “self-defence” , and the mother. called 999.

But after this, she claimed the driver went back to the driver’s door and pulled out what she at first thought was a knife, but in hindsight could have been a screwdriver.

The mother said the pair then walked away from the confrontation before making a U-turn and “screaming” at the family as they walked their horses.

She said: “I think at this point I said to the driver, ‘F— off you pikey’ while I was on the phone with the police.”

She explained how the driver got back into the car, “reversed and hit my horse”. The mother claims he was “threatening” them.

The men then returned a few minutes later in another vehicle saying “We are gypsies. It’s a hate crime. We live down here. You don’t have to come here, otherwise.

She claims she later apologized to the men for her heated comment, saying she didn’t know the driver was a traveler and meant no malice or offense.

Officers were called to the scene and both parties were spoken to.

She claims the officers were polite, but then one of them referred to her as a ‘suspect’, which the mother says: ‘My heart stopped when I said, ‘You what?’

She claims the officer said she was being investigated because they had a recording of her using the slur during the 999 call, adding that because there was no CCTV of the original incident involving the horses, “It’s your word against his “.

A spokesman for the force said Telegraph has “closed” its investigation into the woman’s allegations, meaning they are closed until more information comes to light.

Four offenses were said to have been laid, one for assault without injury, two for verbal abuse and one for racially aggravated comments.

He added that the assault and verbal abuse cases have been filed pending further investigative opportunities while the investigation into the racially aggravated incident continues.

However, a police spokesman confirmed that the investigation into the man had been reopened.

Cambridgeshire Constabulary said: “Our initial response to this incident was inadequate and the crimes which were initially raised as a result of officers attending the scene, should never have been closed at such an early stage.

“I simply misunderstood.” A senior officer reviewed these crimes today and they have all been re-opened and are now being actively investigated

“As part of that process, we will also review our response and why those crimes were recorded, to prevent something like this from happening again.

“We regret any distress caused by the handling of the incident.”