Cyclist fined after three hours in cell over lights mix-up

Nicholas Cimini was approached by police as he made the short journey from his flat in Dalry to Brougham Place.

Officers told the 30-year-old they had spotted him cycling along the busy Tollcross Street without any lights on.

But Mr Cimini challenged this, claiming he had left his flat with both lights working and was in the process of locking his bike up when he was stopped by the police.

During the stand-off with police, Mr Cimini shone his front light in one officer's face to prove it was working and it was at this point that it emerged the light had begun to fade because it was low on battery power.

Mr Cimini, who teaches sociology at Napier University, was then arrested for not providing his name or address to the officers, despite repeated requests from them.

He was handcuffed and taken to St Leonard's police station, where he was held in a cell on his own for three hours before being released. The incident took place at 6pm last Wednesday.

Police chiefs today confirmed that Mr Cimini left St Leonard's with a 30 fixed penalty notice for failure to display any lights on his pedal cycle.

Mr Cimini today said he was still shocked and angry over the incident. He said: "It was quite a short trip from my house to my mate's flat and I'd checked the lights before I set off.

"I reached my destination, took the lights off and was locking it up when I saw this officer shouting at me from across the road.

"He came over and said I had been cycling without lights, which I challenged, and shone the light in his face to prove it. This was when I noticed it had dimmed slightly. We then had a discussion about it and during this he slapped the handcuffs on me and I was put in the back of the van, before being taken to the cells.

"I was really shocked. The policeman just wouldn't listen and it was humiliating to be handcuffed and led into the van like some sort of vagrant just for apparently not having my cycle lights working.

"You couldn't imagine a car driver getting the same treatment for not having their lights working, you would have thought the police would have better things to do with their time."

A police spokesman said: "The individual concerned was stopped by police for failure to display any lights on his pedal cycle – an offence under the Road Traffic Act – and was subsequently arrested and detained after refusing to provide either his name or address to officers.

"He was afterwards issued with a fixed penalty notice in respect of the original offence."