Mother defeats football yobs by staging rail protest (25 September 2010)

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

From the Daily Mail:

Mother defeats gang of football yobs by staging railway track protest until staff who refused to intervene FINALLY call police

When a gang of drunken football yobs began hurling foul abuse at a mother and her five-year-old son on a train, she presumed someone would intervene. But the driver refused to call the police or stop the train and the guard was nowhere to be seen. Faced with giving in or standing up to the 30-strong group, Lisa Robinson decided to take them on. When the train reached her station she got off and stood in front of it, refusing to move until the driver called police. Rail company Arriva then terminated the train there, leaving the abusive fans to make their own way home.

Yesterday Mrs Robinson said: ^It was a terrifying experience, but I^m glad I did it. It was a victory for ordinary people.^

The 41-year-old mother had been on a day out with her husband Peter, 61, and their son Harry to celebrate his fifth birthday. The couple, civil servants from Ystrad Mynach near Caerphilly in South Wales, had taken Harry to Cardiff before returning home on the Arriva service. As they boarded the two-carriage train on Saturday September 25, they realised it was full of drunken Cardiff City fans who had just seen their team beat Millwall. The family tried to ignore the shouting and swearing hooligans, but when the train arrived at a station and the gang began abusing a woman on the platform, Mrs Robinson decided to intervene.

^I walked down to the group and asked the main perpetrator to stop swearing,^ she said. ^They then turned their abuse on me, calling me a ^dyke^ and a string of four-letter words. Nobody said anything. I was terrified. I wanted to alert the guard, but there was no way into the next carriage so we were completely trapped. Then they swore at my husband, who was sitting with Harry, and taunted him about his age. By the time the train set off again I was crying and shaking.^

She was so frightened she pulled the emergency handle at the next station. But she said that when the driver got into the carriage, he simply reset the alarm and went back to drive the train, ignoring her husband^s request to call the police.

Mrs Robinson added: ^The train carried on for another two stops, with the abuse continuing, until it arrived at our station, Ystrad Mynach. When I got off I had Harry in my arms and he was crying. The driver completely ignored us and told us to take it up with the guard. We had not seen one for the entire journey ^ I think he had been too frightened to intervene. It was then I decided to take direct action. I spoke to the driver who again ignored me ^ he wouldn^t even take his sunglasses off to talk to me. So I handed Harry to Peter, got on to the tracks and stopped the train from leaving the station. Some of the football yobs got off to give me more abuse and take pictures of me on their mobiles.^

She said the guard then appeared and asked her to move, which she refused to do. She eventually moved after the station controller promised her he would not move the train and that the police would be called. Two British Transport Police officers arrived and, after discussions with railway officials, the train was terminated. Mrs Robinson said yesterday that she was glad she had made a stand and would do it again.

^I think too often these yobs are allowed to get away with it,^ she added. ^When the thugs started kicking off, one woman said to me that I should accept it as it was just the world we live in. But I refuse to live in a society where this sort of thing goes unpunished. Arriva sent me flowers and apologies, but what they really need to do is plan to make sure these things don^t happen. They knew there was a football game on and should have laid on extra staff. Instead, they had one guard who I^m convinced was hiding in the other carriage. I still can^t believe the driver ignored my husband when he asked him to phone the police.^

Peter Northcott, head of stations at Arriva Trains Wales, said: ^We take all complaints very seriously and I personally contacted Mr and Mrs Robinson on the day of this incident. A full investigation is taking place with the British Transport Police.^

A spokesman for British Transport Police said: ^Inquiries, including viewing CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) and speaking to witnesses who were on the train, which was travelling between Penarth and Bargoed, are ongoing.^

[readytostart]

Well I'm guessing this is one of those situations which is never ideal where a unit is running in multiple with no access between the sets.
From a personal point of view, if someone requests me to call the police then I do just that, and it is up to the bobbies to decide if it is a waste of their time.
I don't condone trespass on the railway, though this looks quite like the crew knew what was going on and there was no danger of injury.

[JayMac]

Imagine how apoplectic the Daily Mail and its readers would've been if the police had arrested her for trespass!

[Tim]

Quite.  Standing on the tracks is a stupid thing to do whateverthe circumstances.  But I agree with RTS, the driver ought to have called the police.  It is not his job to decide if a call is needed.

[IndustryInsider]

I wonder whether those on board who were not behaving badly and were going beyond Ystrad Mynach were impressed with their train being cancelled by her actions though?

[Mookiemoo]

To be honest, I actually admire her for this

Having travelled frequently on trains back from liverpool after the football and even recently only last week where I was abused for asking the drunks to shut up, and nothing was done except me being told to move - something needs to be done

[SDS]

BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) need to bo**ock her for going onto the track.
What kind of example does it set, oh ill go down onto the track cos I'm not getting my own way. What would have happened if the driver had only just come back from having had to deal with a 1 under? Flashbacks defo.

Sorry but I have no sympathy for her, that went out the window when she went down onto the track.

[Brucey]

BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) need to bo**ock her for going onto the track.
What kind of example does it set, oh ill go down onto the track cos I'm not getting my own way.

Have to agree with this.  It is unfortunate that the driver didn't do anything and the guard couldn't be seen, but this wouldn't have stopped them from calling the police themselves.  Or even alighting at an intermediate station and taking a later train (if the situation was that bad).

The article states the train was 2 coaches, so why couldn't she access the other coach?

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

Brucey and SDS, how sad you are.  She was the victim, not the guilty party. Direct action is sometimes the only way to take a stand in this type of situation.  The thrust of this thread should be how anti-social behavious on trains can be stamped out, not about criticising how the victims react to it.

The saftey argument doesn't stand up to scrutiny.  Walking in front of a stationery train in full view of the driver is not necessarily dangerous.  Well done to the lady I say. 

[JayMac]

Gordon, can I ask that we don't call others sad, just for expressing an alternative point of view. I happen to agree that this lady's actions were potentially dangerous, let alone all the inconvenience she caused.

Would it've been acceptable for her to do the same in 3rd rail land?

There are many dangers she could've faced doing what she did, such as a slip or fall. Ok, only dangerous to herself but then that's why we have laws regarding trespass on the railway.

Aside from inconveniencing the yobs (who, it appears, deserved it) she also inconvenienced other passengers wishing to continue their journey as well as those further down the line who may've been waiting for this train. Then there are the costs borne by ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company))) for the cancellation.

Yes, we have frustrations when those with a duty of care fail in that duty, but it doesn't give us the right to take the law into our own hands.

As for the 'thrust of this thread' that's entirely up to the individual posters. We can debate the anti-social behaviour and this ladies' actions.

[Tim]

Gordon.

Two rights don't make a wrong.  The BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) need to deliver "appropriate advice" to the lady (although not charge her) and Arriva need to speak to the driver to make sure that he understands that when a member of the public asks for the police to be called then the police should be called.

Her actions were wrong and potentially dangerous.  Now there were mitigating circumstances which mean that I don't think that she should be prosecuted, but that does not change the fact that her actions were wrong. 

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Woman on track halts train after Cardiff fans' abuse

A mother subjected to "obscene" insults by football fans on a train stood on the track at a railway station until police were called.

Lisa Robinson, 41, was on the train with her husband and son, five, when they were verbally abused by Cardiff City fans after a win over Millwall.

She stepped on to the tracks at Ystrad Mynach until police arrived.

The train was terminated and the fans had to end the journey on foot. British Transport Police are investigating.

Ms Robinson, a civil servant, and her husband Peter, 61, were on a day trip to Cardiff on 25 September to celebrate the their son's birthday and were returning home.

She said about 30 drunken Cardiff fans were on the Penarth-to-Bargoed Arriva Trains Wales service, celebrating their team's win after an early home kick-off against the London club.

She said things turned nasty when they began shouting sexist chants at a woman on the platform at Lisvane railway station and Ms Robinson asked them to stop.

She said: "Then their chanting became directly to me and it became sexist and quite obscene until by the time we got Caerphilly, I pulled the red handle and stopped the train."

The train driver came out and Mr Robinson asked him to call the police, but the driver reset the handle and continued with the journey.

The family were then "effectively trapped" on the train until they arrived at their home station of Ystrad Mynach, said Ms Robinson.

At the station the family got off the train and Ms Robinson again asked the driver to call the police but he refused, so she decided to take "direct action".

Ms Robinson said: "I slithered down off the platform on to the track. I wanted to protect both my husband and my child and I wanted this behaviour to stop. Some of the fans got off the train and took pictures of me with mobile phones and continued to abuse me.

"This is my community, this is my village. We're not going to be bullied and certainly for women and families, they should be able to travel on the train in peace and quiet and go about their business without being bullied like that."

The police were eventually called, and the service was terminated.

Wayne David, Labour MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) for Caerphilly, called the "apparent inactivity" of Arriva Trains Wales and British Transport Police "unacceptable" and said he would be in touch with them about the incident. "No member of the public should be subject to abuse of this kind and it must never happen again," he added.

British Transport Police said: "BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) officers attended Ystrad Mynach railway station after a report that a woman had been verbally abused by a group of football fans after she challenged their behaviour on board the train. BTP does not tolerate anti-social behaviour of any nature on the railway network and will do everything it can to identify offenders and bring them to justice."

Peter Northcott, head of stations at Arriva Trains Wales, said: "We take all complaints very seriously and I personally contacted Mr and Mrs Robinson on the day of this incident. A full investigation is taking place with the British Transport Police."

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

Gordon, can I ask that we don't call others sad, just for expressing an alternative point of view.

Crikey, is "sad" now a term of abuse?  I've read posts on this blog that are far more critical of others than was mine.  As you say, we're all entitled to our view, and surely we wouldn't want to discourage posts that might cause a bit of controversy now and again.  That would be a sad day indeed.

[basset44]

Hi All,

In this article they mention a Code of conduct

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/10/05/no-regrets-from-mum-who-tackled-football-yobs-91466-27408612/

Which is displayed on most trains, but in this case was not enforced. There seems to be a lot of things done wrong and that does not excuss the actions taken.

Basset

[Phil]

There's a strong chance that a civil servant working in Cardiff works for the tax office - and quite frankly, I'd hesitate to take one of them on as well....