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

[whole diary]

[SDS]

Brucey and SDS, how sad you are.  .....

So I'm sad am I, for merely expressing my opinions? I wont contribute any more then as further posts of mine could be classed as sad by you and distress you further.

SDS out

[Mookiemoo]

I have been a passenger on a train with late night drunks or drunken football fans - I think I have posted more than once on the topic

Fact is - damage limitation is NOT acceptable - its just not

I understand the problems caused but there has to be some system in place to deal

End of

[Chris from Nailsea]

Hmm.  May I ask that members please take a moment to cool down here?

We in the admin team have obviously noted this topic, and the use of a certain word in a post - and we raised a slight concern.

In itself, the word 'sad' is open to all sorts of interpretations - from the traditional, 'someone who is downcast, not light hearted', to a perhaps more modern usage, suggesting 'pathetic'.

We really don't want to prescribe which common words in modern usage are acceptable or not, on this forum, so I'd just like to ask, again, that we take a moment, and then continue this very valid discussion - but perhaps without using such apparently emotive words?

Thanks,  

Chris from Nailsea.
Administrator.

[Glovidge]

UNderstandably this is all over the Cardiff City messageboard 4 pages and counting...

http://www.ccmb.co.uk/fudforum/index.php?t=msg&th=238254&start=0&rid=9644&S=2cca8ac816c68b92185814f8ef8167a9

The match that the incident took place afterwards was against Millwall on 25th Sept. Why has this only just made it into the news on the 5th October then? 

Some posters on the City messageboard claim to have been on the train in question and are claiming the media reports are grossly over-exagerrated and some say the woman was equally to blame as the 30 yobs, which witnesses claim were actually about 8 kids?

How long do these incidents usually take to investigate? Why has this become the main item on the Welsh news today? Why would you leave your 5yo child in a state of distress to stand on railway tracks? Isn't that a more serious offence than drunk and disorderly?



And as for the

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

I'm sure that Arriva like all train operating companies aspire to a safe and non-threatening environment for all their passenegers. That may be their policy, but from a Health & Safety angle I wonder what their arrangments are for implementing this policy? Are there procedures for traincrew to follow when individual or group behaviour becomes unacceptable, and the traincrew are unable to resolve?  Are there any/enough BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) or civil police to attend incidents?

But surely doing nothing is not an option.  We must not turn a blind eye to anti-social behaviour.

[Chris from Nailsea]

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

CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) of soccer fans whose abuse led to train protest

CCTV images have been released of 10 men accused of "obscene" behaviour to a female train passenger prompting her to stand in protest on the track until police were called.

Lisa Robinson, 41, her husband and son, five, were verbally abused by Cardiff City fans on the Penarth-Bargoed service on Saturday 25 September.

She halted the train at Ystrad Mynach after her complaints went unheeded.

The Bluebirds fans were travelling home after a home win over Millwall.

Now British Transport Police (BTP^▸ (British Transport Police)) has issued still pictures of 10 men they want to question over a disturbance.

Mrs Robinson, a civil servant, was returning home with husband Peter, 61, and son Harry, from celebrating Harry's birthday in Cardiff. She told British Transport Police (BTP) how City fans began abusing her after she asked them to stop shouting sexist chants at a woman on the platform at Lisvane railway station.

"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," she said.

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

Once she arrived at her home station of Ystrad Mynach, Ms Robinson again asked the driver to call the police. When he refused, she decided take "direct action" and climbed down onto the track. She said she was abused further by the men before the police were called. The service was subsequently terminated at the station, leaving the football fans to walk away.

"This is my community, this is my village," she said. "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."

British Transport Police (BTP) Detective Inspector Mark Cleland said: "BTP will not tolerate disorder or anti-social behaviour of any kind on trains or at railway stations across the network. Tens of thousands of football fans use Britain's railways to get to and from matches every week and the vast majority of them are well behaved and cause BTP no problems whatsoever. However, a minority show complete disregard for other passengers, including those travelling with young children, and members of rail staff - all of whom have the right to travel or carry out their duties without being frightened, intimidated or subjected to loutish behaviour by a minority of so-called fans."

Anyone who recognises any of the 10 men in the CCTV images is urged to contact British Transport Police on on 0800 40 50 40 or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Edit note: Images now removed due to expiry of copyright permission. CfN

[Glovidge]

Cripes is that the line-up for Britain's Next Top Model?

[JayMac]

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

No action on claim of train abuse by Cardiff City fans

British Transport Police (BTP^▸ (British Transport Police)) say no action will taken following claims of verbal abuse by a woman at the hands of football fans on a train. Lisa Robinson said she was so angry at abuse by Cardif City fans she stood on tracks in front of the train at Ystrad Mynach until police arrived.

An investigation was launched into her allegations, made in September. But a BTP spokesperson said crown prosecutors decided that no further action will be taken. The incident was reported to police after a match between Cardiff City and Millwall.

Ms Robinson, a civil servant, said she was on a train service from Penarth to Bargoed with her husband and five-year-old son when trouble erupted. She claimed that drunken Cardiff fans began chanting sexist abuse at a woman on a platform at Lisvane in the city, and then turned the abuse on her.
CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) footage She said it prompted her to pull the emergency train alarm at Caerphilly, but the train driver decided to proceed. At Ystrad Mynach, she asked the driver to call the police, and then said she decided to take "direct action" by standing on the track until officers finally arrived. The train service was eventually terminated at the station.

BTP said it launched a detailed investigation following the allegations made by Ms Robinson.

"It included officers carrying out extensive enquiries including viewing hours of CCTV footage, and tracing and interviewing more than a dozen witnesses who were on board the train, as well as gathering statements from rail staff and members of the public," said a police spokesperson. "A detailed file was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service which has, after careful consideration, decided no further action will be taken in relation to the above incident."

[inspector_blakey]

If the details are indeed as reported and this woman did stand in front of the train, sounds to me like there might be a few open-and-shut cases BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) could make against Ms Robinson though: railway trespass for a start, and almost certainly others covered by the Regulation of Railways ACt 1889 and subsequent amendments...

[SDS]

These are what I can think of..

• Railway Trespass. S55 British Transport Commission Act 1949
• Wilful obstruction of the railway. S.16 Railway Regulation Act 1840
• Failure to comply with reasonable directions from an officer or agent of the railway. S.16 Railway Regulation Act 1840
• Failure to cross at an authorised crossing point. S.23 Regulation of the Railways Act 1868
• Obstructing engines, or carriages, or railways. S.36 Malicious Damage Act 1861
• Wilful neglect endangering public safety S.34 Offences Against the Person Act 1861

[dog box]

just come across this one...wonder why Mrs Robinson didnt call the Police herself??