What are Roadmen?

[Confusedbymodernlife]

Can anyone explain what roadmen are, with respect to teenage lads? Are they violent or just harmlessly role playing?

The reason I ask is that I was out walking on a quiet path and encountered a group of male youths blocking my path. Dressed in black and wearing masks. Scared the shit out of me, so I dived into a housing estate and tried to lose them.

Thought I’d seen the back of them, but turned a corner to head home and came across 2 of them. They saw me, changed direction and followed me! I ran for my life, hid in some bushes and called someone to pick me up. I was quite rattled by it, probably because I was mugged before and it brought back memories.

A parent at school has said they sound like the roadmen. They roam around striking up conversations with people and have their own way of speaking- I’ve googled and none the wiser. I have seen kids riding with hoodies and masks on bikes in daylight, but just thought they were messing around.

We are in a leafy suburb, not exactly an urban gangster setting.

What is this weird cultural phenomenon?

@misssunshine4040 bit harsh! I thought I was going to be mugged. I’ve been mugged before and found it quite traumatic. I definitely live under a rock though.

Watch an episode of Top Boy on Netflix. They're low level county lines drug runners who enjoy a pot of urban jousting.

We have a couple in our small rural north east town. One insist on answering the register with “gwan gwan”. Asked him when his little village became a suburb of Kingston.
Those that you encountered are just the usual common or garden variety misogynistic, intimidating thug.

I’ve never heard of this and I have a teen son. But I definitely live under a rock and would feel intimidated

Rich white kids proling it up. Quite pathetic!

My 12 yo dd seems to use the term disparagingly to refer to teen boys hanging out in groups on the street with hoods up looking a bit like they are up to no good. I don't think she has a clue about gang / drugs origins, although I'm sure that's where it comes from originally.

I realised what an embarrassing middle aged mum i was the other days when I asked her if a group was who she meant by 'Road boys' 😂. Of course I've now started calling them that on purpose because a) it winds her up and b) it's a much better description of the ones in our village!

Some are probably harmless and some not but sounds like the ones you saw were probably trying to scare you / wind you up for fun, which can't have been nice.

😂😂😂😂😂

It's an insult round here.

Recently come across this whole other phenomenon of rich white clean cut boys covered in bling and talking like yardies. It's so ridiculous. And also how can you be so culturally dense to not realise initiating the speech patterns of black men is inappropriate?!

This

When I wear my grey joggers, DS calls me RoadMum.

@Goawayangryman eh?? Dense? I didn’t really hear them talking and they were actually a mixed group of white and black boys.

Yeah this is true where I live.

Nice leafy middle class place they're more likely to be harmless and would likely shit themselves if they came across a real roadman

I think @Goawayangryman is talking about the lads op not you

I also find that the "real" roadmen don't engage in public order offences or worse offemces against the general public. They have runs to do, they know the price of failing a run, so they sorta just get on with it. That's not to say when they are hanging about in a gang that they don't engage in ASB (antisocial behaviour) but generally rule of thumb, many will leave the public alone if out running. No point drawing attention to yourself and getting caught with grams and chash on you. Then not only do they have to deal with the police but the county lines gang for failing the run. The later is worse.

The plastic roadmen tend to be the ones intimidating the public and increased ASB. They may also increase their offending to "offences against the person"

Real roadmen will have in gang violence, and inter gang violence so it can be hard to figure out who's affiliated to which gang. In our city 3 major county line gangs battle for "turf". The scousers, the cockneys and the Somalians.

That's in my city anyway.

Yeah true, we have them going from younger teens to the ones 'employing' them who are in their 20s 30s, none of them go about trying to intimidate older women, they don't like to draw too much attention to themselves and can actually be quite pleasant.

Worse that's happened to me is being asked if I'd like to go for a drink 😬

There has been violence between different gangs and runners though

So a roadman is a person pretending to be a roadman. But if a roadman met a roadman he'd cack himself.

The worst insult my teens give is calling another lad "Baby Roadman"!

@FigBiscuit my son calls me Roadmum too when I wear my long puffer coat 😁

Basically yes
Its an insult round here for a MC white teen who is trying to be cool and what we might have called “street” in my day

A roadman near me is typically a thin, impoverished teenage boy who deals drugs on a bike or e-scooter or on foot. Sometimes snatches phones. They dress all in black. They are stabbed or shot on a daily basis and if not killed then left blind or with a colostomy bag or some other life changing injury. Rarely makes the news now because people don't seem to care about black boys lives.

Never met one but a roadman in Hitchen or somewhere seems to be a white middle class boy who says still at the end of their sentences.

And also how can you be so culturally dense to not realise initiating the speech patterns of black men is inappropriate?!

It's really weird that it's a thing because I thought young people were meant to be more aware?

Yeah, roadmen, shock, can be any colour.

Would be fascinating to watch - surely tv potential in that

I've never heard of roadmen other than to refer to someone who repairs roads but in my opinion anyone who walks around covering their face to purposely look scary is an antisocial idiot.

I would have been scared as well OP.

😂