11 hours ago
Moment passenger threatens to 'break train manager's face' as LNER releases shocking bodycam footage showing tirades of abuse
Shocking bodycam footage has revealed the moment a rail passenger shouted 'I'm going to break your face' at the train's manager after becoming disruptive.
Dramatic video filmed on a London North Eastern Railway (LNER) service on the night of March 16 showed the man confronting the member of staff at the onboard café bar.
The manager calmly told him: 'I'm just gonna ask you to take a seat - come on, let's take a seat.' But the man became irate, accusing the employee of 'being ignorant'.
He then added: 'I'm going to break your face. You're lucky.' The passenger then waved his hand towards the manager while appearing to hold his mobile phone.
The manager told him: 'Don't point that in my face. I need to close the café bar. Don't put that in my face please.' But the man said: 'Shut your mouth. Try it right now.'
LNER, which released the footage during 'Rail Safety Week' to show the kind of abuse sometimes faced by its staff, said the man later apologised for his behaviour.
A second clip showed another passenger becoming abusive towards a train manager on board an LNER train to London King's Cross on the evening of July 2 last year.
The man was heard threatening the employee that he would 'lose his job', before swearing at him at least three times and aggressively pointing towards him.
He said: 'Yes, you're going to lose your job. So is he. There you go, you know, put your hands on me. You ****, you ****, you're a ****. You know what I mean? I am serious. I will take you to... Don't come any closer, OK? You put your hands on me.'
The man later pleaded guilty to the offences in a court hearing, according to the Government-controlled operator which did not identify either man in the footage.
It comes as violent assaults on railway staff and police across the UK are said to be at a four-year high.
British Transport Police figures show there were 3,330 recorded assaults on rail staff across the UK last year, a rise of almost 25 per cent on the previous year.
LNER said it released the two clips to 'highlight how the use of bodyworn cameras is helping to keep the railway safe'.
The operator - which runs services along the East Coast Main Line between London King's Cross and Scotland via Newcastle and York - said it had introduced 180 bodyworn to help colleagues faced with aggressive and threatening behaviour.
The cameras have been worn more than 12,000 times by teams on trains and at stations over the past year.
LNER said its Azuma trains were fitted with high-quality onboard CCTV, but the bodyworn cameras can give more insight into an incident, which can be used by British Transport Police (BTP) to support legal proceedings.
The incident happened on board an LNER train towards London King's Cross in July last year
A train manager for LNER who features in one of the clips, referred to only as 'Phil', said: 'I speak to hundreds of customers every day. Most of the time working onboard is enjoyable and the camera is the last thing on my mind.
'However, on occasions where I have been confronted with a challenging situation, I find activating the camera very often calms things down, provides reassurance for other customers, and also helps with any instances which may need further investigation.'
Warrick Dent, safety and operations director for LNER, added: 'Thousands of customers travel with us each day, and while instances of abusive or threatening behaviour towards our teams are rare, they are never acceptable.
'Body worn cameras are just one of the ways we support our teams who work hard to help make sure our customers enjoy the best possible journey and feel safe when travelling with us.'
The operator said that since introducing the cameras, staff have experienced about five incidents each month which have been flagged for further investigation.
Inspector Ben Jones, from the BTP's Workplace Violence Coordination Unit, said: 'The impact bodyworn video has had on keeping rail staff safe and prosecuting criminals cannot be understated.
'Bodyworn video helps to accelerate the judicial process for victims, provide transparency in cases, and assist rail staff in the many challenging situations they face every single day.
'Wearing body worn video decreases staff assault rates by nearly 50 percent. We are dedicated to creating a hostile environment for criminals on the railways, and the continued rollout of BWV across rail operators can only further this ambition.'
While neither of the individuals in the videos were accused of fare evasion, the incidents come amid a backdrop of significant debate around those who do not pay for rail travel.
MailOnline has covered a series of incidents featured in the ongoing Channel 5 documentary 'Fare Dodgers: At War With The Law', while the issue was also highlighted by Robert Jenrick at Stratford last month.
The shadow justice secretary posted a video on social media in which he confronted people who forced their way through the ticket barriers at the station.
Separately, a report released on June 4 found fare evasion is becoming 'normalised', with train staff telling the inquiry that they are struggling to cope with 'aggressive' passengers who refuse to buy tickets.
The Office of Road and Rail (ORR) said travellers are using 'a range of techniques to persistently' underpay or avoid paying and see it as a 'victimless crime'.
