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.
And she succeeded in getting the train stopped.
Yesterday Mrs Robinson said: ‘It was a terrifying experience, but I’m glad I did it. It was a victory for ordinary people.’
Well, not quite. You see, no-one was arrested, and all the passengers were inconvenienced along with the yobs!
Rail company Arriva then terminated the train there, leaving the abusive fans to make their own way home.
‘…And everyone else!’ that sentence should say…
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.’
I hate to point out the reality of the situation, love, but in what way have they
not got away with it..? Unless the police can track them down via CCTV and somehow get them to a magistrate who will give them more than a suspended sentence, 'getting away with it' is precisely what they've done, isn't it?
I think you're being a bit harsh on Mrs. Robinson. What you say is true, but what else could she do? At least she made a point, and yes maybe she inconvenienced everyone else, but not one of those people helped her while she was being abused, so sod them frankly.
ReplyDeleteAgree this is not really a win, but she did her best and was only forced to do something so silly by the inept jobsworth cowardice of the driver and invisible guard. As well of course she was in the knowledge that the police would do the sum total of bugger all anyway.
Not saying you're wrong mind, just think Mrs. Robinson deserves some credit for at least trying.
Not sure what you are complaining about here.
ReplyDeleteShould the guard have stopped the train and had the yobs removed?
Should the driver have radioed ahead to get the Police to remove the yobs?
Should the lady just sat down and ignored it all?
Should the silent majority have interevened and forced the yobs to calm down or force them off the train at the next stop?
Should the lady endured the abuse and then sent a letter to her MP once safely home.
Normally I totally agree with your analysis of the shit that passes for modern life but on this occasion I think this lady took the only course of action open to her and therefore did the right thing.
Arriva trains don't have CCTV other than on the luggage spaces, where the refreshments kiosks used to be.
ReplyDeleteI know that c2c are sometimes known to throw disruptive passengers off trains.
ReplyDeleteI even witnessed it once myself and was happy to have the delay as it meant the rest of the trip home was peaceful. However IIRC the only reason it happened was because their 'security guards' couldn't ignore it.
Frank, this is what should have happened:
ReplyDeleteThe train stops at the next station. The law-abiding passengers are taken off and travel onward without delay.
Meanwhile, the train with the yobs on is sealed up and...well, that's it really.
@Timdog, Frank: Yes, she did her best. But the system let her down. What Greencoat points out SHOULD have happened would have been one in the 'Win' column for me.
ReplyDeleteIf subsequent complaints are dealt with properly, I'll move this over to the 'Win' column for sure. But listening to Bob Crow whine on Tuesday's 'Jeremy Vine' show about how his members aren't responsible for train security, I can't see it somehow...
"Arriva trains don't have CCTV other than on the luggage spaces..."
Pretty useless, then!
"However IIRC the only reason it happened was because their 'security guards' couldn't ignore it."
That's bad.