AN SNP councillor was attacked by a young dirt bike rider just 10 minutes from her home on Sunday evening.
Councillor Rosemary Liewald, who represents Lochgelly, Cardenden and Benarty on Fife Council, was out walking her dog in the Bowhill Woodland at around 7:15pm on Sunday evening when she heard, then saw, a dirt biker behind her.
Liewald took out her phone and took a blurry picture of the bike, then carried on walking.
“Minutes later, I looked up as the same biker was now coming toward me along the track I was walking on,” she said.
“I, again, raised my phone and the biker continued to come at me at some speed. I assumed he would swerve away as he came closer.
"However, as he came closer he raised his arm and hit me fully across the face, throwing me to the ground and sped on.”
Following the incident, Police Scotland are now appealing to the public for more information following the assault.
“The 64-year-old woman was walking in Bowhill Woods around 7.15pm on Sunday, 18 August, 2024, when a male youth riding an off-road motorbike assaulted her,” a release from Police Scotland confirmed.
Inspector Michael Booker of Cowdenbeath Police Station added: “We are keen to trace the rider of the off-road bike.
"He is around 13-17 years old, of slim build, wearing a blue Adidas tracksuit top, dark blue tracksuit bottoms. He was also wearing a blue motorbike helmet with white stripes. The bike he was riding was a green off-road bike.”
The incident has left Liewald with a bloody face, a thick lip, and scratches on her arm.
"I believe the rider on the bike last night had full intent to seriously harm me,” she said.
“I could have been killed had I hit my head on a stone as I fell, I could have suffered a burst windpipe if he had hit my throat. His intention to cause grievous bodily harm has been confirmed by the police.”
She continued: “If this was a less robust member of the public who was on the track last night, I dread to imagine the consequences.”
Sharing her story, Liewald said the dirt bike terror in Bowhill and other nearby villages “must end”.
“The communities around Cardenden and Cowdenbeath have been plagued by this behaviour for months,” she said. “Dirt bikers who churn up grassland, who drive through residential areas, who torment and terrify children and families while they are out in playgrounds and community grass spaces . Some areas in the villages are becoming ‘no-go-areas’.”
However, Liewald said this is the first report of bikers causing “deliberate physical injury to anyone”.
“The bikers are escalating their activity as they believe they are untouchable. This must end,” she said.
In the wake of her attack, Liewald has said more resources and greater powers “must be made available” to police officers to tackle the problem head on.
“These lads on these bikes are riding around on green park land, through residential streets on pavements and off pavements, they don’t care about who is in their way,” she said.
“I was in his way last night and he was fully intent on hurting me.
"I know our police have been told they do not pursue – that’s the remit they’ve been given. However, there are no resources within our constabulary to tackle what is going on across these villages.
"That has to change. Something has got to happen.”
Anyone with information regarding the identity of the male is asked to contact Police Scotland at 101 quoting incident number 3141 of Sunday, 18 August, 2024.”
