Providing Rail news since 1897 -

Why should our heroes have to fear the threat of prosecution?

The inspector thus asked him to leave the train, but despite several requests, the 19-year-old sat tight and continued to swear and argue in front of embarrassed travellers.

After four or five minutes of altercation – during which time the Edinburgh-Perth train remained in Linlithgow station – a fellow passenger began to surreptitiously record the proceedings on video. A further one and a half minutes of argument ensued, during which the guard told the youth: “I can stay here all night if necessary but the other passengers will start moaning. Why should they pay and not you?” Again, the youth replied with f-words.

Eventually, another passenger, who had been sitting quietly nearby, decided he had heard enough.

He stood up and, after speaking with the inspector, bundled the man along the aisle, ejected him onto the platform and then stood in the doorway to prevent his angry attempts to re-board until the doors had closed.

As he returned to his seat, he was met with a round of applause and relieved comments of “Thanks Big Man”, while the grateful ticket collector made reference to the fictional adventure hero ‘Indiana Jones’.

I may be a lone voice here, but in my opinion, this was a classic case of a decent, public-spirited member of the community going to the assistance of an obviously-distressed railway servant and, at the same time, ensuring that a train that had already been seriously delayed by the incident, suffered no further hold-up.

You might be able to guess what happened later.

Yes, the ‘Big Man’ was questioned by British Transport Police with a view to possible prosecution following a complaint of assault by the youth’s family.

It turns out that the teenager had grazed his cheek in the scuffle.

Having seen the video (it can be viewed on www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKKADFIEX84), I am amazed and not a little angry at this development, as it is quite clear what led up to the scuffle.

What sort of future is there for British society if fear of prosecution is to intimidate members of the public into sitting meekly by during this sort of incident? I obviously do not condone people taking the law into their own hands, but the man who stood up to offer his help was quite clearly no vigilante.

Even if, in the time between this issue being printed (several days before Christmas) and going on sale in the new year, it has been decided not to prosecute, it doesn’t alter the fact that this poor chap has had to live with the mental stress and worry that he might end up with a criminal record. Disgraceful!

GOOD news for those who are blind or partially sighted: There is now a talking version of The Railway Magazine, containing a selection of stories from each issue. Turn to page 7 for details of how to order one.

Nick Pigott
Editor