Cyclist police said ‘breached human rights act’ by riding no-handed has case dropped

A cyclist who was fined for riding his bike “no-handed” has had his case dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Barrister Paul Powlesland claimed that City of London Police had ticketed him under the Human Rights Act last July. He contested the fine, which he described as “utterly bonkers”, as he felt it was not illegal to ride whilst not touching the handlebars. Footage taken by Powlesland shows him confronting an officer about a ticket.City of London Police said that the footage shared by Powlesland in July 2025 was actually filmed in April 2025, when he confronted the same officer that gave him a ticket the month prior. “The cyclist approached the officer and during their chat, the Human Rights Act was mentioned,” the force said. He was not issued a ticket during this interaction. Sharing an update to the case on X on Thursday (12 February), Powlesland said the case had been dropped due to insufficient evidence. The CPS said: “Mr Powlesland was originally charged by the police with riding a bike without due care and attention and the case sent to court. "With police charged cases, after they have been charged they must be reviewed by the CPS to see if the case should continue. After review, we concluded there was insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction and discontinued proceedings.”