Scotland - Complaint Over Man Who Threw 'Fare-Dodger' Off Train

[Nigel]

This is great..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-16177725

A complaint has been made to police against a passenger who threw a "fare-dodger" off a train after he refused the conductor's request to leave.

Alan Pollock's action against Sam Mains on the Edinburgh to Perth train on Friday was filmed by another passenger.

British Transport Police would not confirm who had made the complaint.

Mr Mains, a 19-year-old student from Falkirk, claimed he had mistakenly bought the wrong ticket and was hoping to explain it to the conductor.

He told BBC Radio Scotland's Call Kaye programme: "I was given no time to explain myself. It wasn't even an argument.

"There was a discussion with me trying to explain myself for about a minute and then the conductor started shouting at me," he said.

"I never seen his face, I never seen a man. He never approached me. He never said 'right son get off the train'.

"He grabbed me from behind, threw me to the ground on the train. Then picked me up off the ground on the train. Then threw me to the ground on the platform."

Mr Mains told BBC Scotland he had tried to get back on the train to get his bag - which contained his phone, exam notes and headphones - but was prevented from doing so by Mr Pollock.

He also said he was diabetic, had not eaten much all day and had not slept the night before because he had been studying.

"[This] had perhaps quite an adverse effect on my mood and my mannerisms at that time, but still I don't condone the way I spoke to the conductor," he said.
Applause

The student admitted he had been drinking before the incident, but said he was not drunk.

The footage, filmed by passenger Ian Hems and uploaded to YouTube, shows a youth refusing to pay for his ticket or get off the train.

A man then gets up, grabs the youth and appears to throw him onto the platform at Linlithgow, West Lothian.

The man then twice stops the teenager getting back on the train before returning to his seat to a round of applause from passengers.

But one woman is heard to say: "There's no need for that."

A spokesman for British Transport Police said: "A complaint has been received and inquiries are ongoing into the incident."