Ex-train driver sentenced for incident at Cannon Street

SlimJim1694 · 26 Jan 2020

I'm surprised this hasn't been posted yet but a few papers ran this story the other day and, as you can imagine, its been doing the rounds on social media.

I remember the guy, didn't know him well but knew him to say hello to. I don't know the full circumstances of his sacking however I know he felt very hard done by. He had already been moved depot once under a bit of a cloud with allegations swinging back and forth, he was convinced that the managers had it in for him. I think his card was marked and they just gave him enough rope to hang himself. Jeff was what you might call a "character" to say the least.

I think the big issue here though is mental health. The guy was clearly in the ballpark of what you might call "eccentric" when he was working and the article states he suffered depression after he was sacked. To wait three years and then do this clearly shows the guy is suffering. I'm glad that he didn't get jail and I hope that he can get help with his problems and move on.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/jeffrey-wheeler-southeastern-train-hijacked-191303905.html

An ex-train driver who hijacked a Southeastern train during rush hour has been spared jail.

Jeffrey Wheeler, 56, disrupted routes when he locked himself in the cabin of the service, travelling from London Cannon Street Station to Orpington, and hit the emergency brakes at around 7.15am.

He was eventually arrested when he exited the train shortly after it stopped on November 25 last year and walked along the tracks.

Wheeler had been confronted by the real driver of the train when he barricaded himself in the cabin after using his old keys to gain access.

He had left Southeastern in October 2016 after being offered a settlement.

The hijack affected 70,000 commuters and cost Southeastern £400,000, The Sun Online reported.

Wheeler admitted obstructing the railway at the Inner London Crown Court.

Judge Silas Reid attributed Wheeler’s behaviour to ‘upset and spite'.

The court also heard the defendant had fallen into depression after leaving Southeastern.
Wheeler was handed a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months.

He will also have to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation programme lasting 20 days.

A Southeastern spokesman said: 'The incident on 25 November caused widespread disruption and we would like to apologise to those passengers delayed by Mr Wheeler's actions.

'We are grateful to the City of London Police for their rapid intervention and hope that this sentence will deter others from disrupting the railway - risking their own safety and delaying the many passengers who rely on our services.'

RailUK Forums

bramling · 26 Jan 2020

SlimJim1694 said:
I'm surprised this hasn't been posted yet but a few papers ran this story the other day and, as you can imagine, its been doing the rounds on social media.

I remember the guy, didn't know him well but knew him to say hello to. I don't know the full circumstances of his sacking however I know he felt very hard done by. He had already been moved depot once under a bit of a cloud with allegations swinging back and forth, he was convinced that the managers had it in for him. I think his card was marked and they just gave him enough rope to hang himself. Jeff was what you might call a "character" to say the least.

I think the big issue here though is mental health. The guy was clearly in the ballpark of what you might call "eccentric" when he was working and the article states he suffered depression after he was sacked. To wait three years and then do this clearly shows the guy is suffering. I'm glad that he didn't get jail and I hope that he can get help with his problems and move on.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/jeffrey-wheeler-southeastern-train-hijacked-191303905.html

Bit of a non- story in my view. Disgruntled ex employee doing something to get own back is just one of those things. Just as well he doesn’t seem to have done anything to endanger things as opposed to merely causing a load of disruption.

Perhaps the more useful thing to take away is an awareness that there are people who have issues, not least things like autism, who can find it quite hard to fit in to workplaces without actually meaning harm. There does seem to be a general lack of understanding amongst employers of this.

Meerkat · 26 Jan 2020

Can I assume the keys that do more than annually open crew doors are more strictly controlled so the worst that can happen is locking yourself in the cab?

Dai Corner · 26 Jan 2020

Aren't employees required to hand back their keys when they leave?

How secure are doors to driving compartments compared to, say, those in aircraft?

Timrud · 26 Jan 2020

He should've gone to prison for this

Carlisle · 26 Jan 2020

SlimJim1694 said:
To wait three years and then do this clearly shows the guy is suffering. I'm glad that he didn't get jail and I hope that he can get help with his problems and move on.

Well said & I couldn’t agree more .

ComUtoR · 26 Jan 2020

Dai Corner said:
Aren't employees required to hand back their keys when they leave?

You can buy them off ebay pretty cheap

How secure are doors to driving compartments compared to, say, those in aircraft?

Cab doors have almost zero security.

The_Train · 26 Jan 2020

Timrud said:
He should've gone to prison for this

Why? What would an immediate prison sentence achieve in this situation?

45107 · 26 Jan 2020

Timrud said:
He should've gone to prison for this

Why ? Are you aware of facts that weren’t available in court ?

I don’t condone the actions of a person who disrupts the safe operation of the railway, but the circumstances need to be taken into consideration.

ComUtoR · 26 Jan 2020

Meerkat said:
Can I assume the keys that do more than annually open crew doors are more strictly controlled

There are no controls for any of the keys.

so the worst that can happen is locking yourself in the cab?

He could have done so much worse. There are other bits and bobs throughout the train that are easily accessible too.

SlimJim1694 · 26 Jan 2020

bramling said:
Perhaps the more useful thing to take away is an awareness that there are people who have issues, not least things like autism, who can find it quite hard to fit in to workplaces without actually meaning harm. There does seem to be a general lack of understanding amongst employers of this.

I agree with what you are saying but I don't think there has been any suggestion that Jeff is autistic. More like disgruntled, depressed, feeling victimised, ignored and isolated, clearly suffering some kind of a breakdown.

Timrud said:
He should've gone to prison for this

Sorry mate, don't agree. The guy has mental health issues, what he needs is help.

ComUtoR said:
You can buy them off ebay pretty cheap

So I'm told. Most drivers get issued one key but accumulate spares over time. I suspect he gave one key back and hung onto the spares.

ComUtoR said:
He could have done so much worse. There are other bits and bobs throughout the train that are easily accessible too.

I agree. He could have very easily done something far more serious if he'd wanted to with the knowledge he had.

Meerkat · 26 Jan 2020

ComUtoR said:
There are no controls for any of the keys.

He could have done so much worse. There are other bits and bobs throughout the train that are easily accessible too.

considering how far they take ALARP on other matters are the RSSB/ORR not interested, or are they waiting for a big event?

Dr_Paul · 26 Jan 2020

There was a case some years back of a bus driver who was suffering from severe mental strain who 'hijacked' his own bus, closing the doors when he started off from Stratford and driving everyone not into Central London (I think it was on the 25 route) but up to Epping Forest, so that, as he put it, his passengers could enjoy a day out in the countryside. I don't know what happened to him.

Class 170101 · 26 Jan 2020

He will also have to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation programme lasting 20 days

I hope that 20 days isn't all thats offered for rehabilitation. That should be the minimum term.

ComUtoR · 26 Jan 2020

Meerkat said:
...or are they waiting for a big event?

I genuinely don't know. Every time there is some kind of trespass into a cab, we tend to get reminders about ensuring that the doors are shut. I have never been told to lock any cab doors. Even after Madrid when security was really tight, I don't remember being told to lock the doors.

I would hazard a guess that because its so easy to get the keys and that there is complete public access to the train, there is little point in keeping the cabs that secure.

I think the likelyhood of someone accessing a cab and taking a train on some kind of joy ride is pretty slim. AWS and TPWS would likely trip the train as well as various catch or trap points etc.

Members of the public have gained access into cabs for years. Was it last year when a couple tweeted from an open cab ? There have been posts on this forum regarding availability of keys and that it is either acceptable or people having keys for 'genuine reasons'. An ex Driver, with full railway knowledge accessing a cab would be almost unpreventable.

Bletchleyite · 26 Jan 2020

It's probably not a great terrorist risk, though. Without the key for the desk (which isn't just a T-key), you can hardly drive the train off. You could press the red button, but then you could also pull the passcom. You could maybe prat with the doors, but then you could pull the egress anyway. You could hide something nasty in there, but then you could hide it in the bog and lock it with a screwdriver from outside. It's something that seems like it could pose a huge risk (possibly because of aircraft cockpits and the rather different situation there) but if you look at the reality it doesn't really.

And if you did any of that, you would get caught.

And even without a T-key other things work. I used to open the windows on GWR 166s with my house key when the aircon had evidently packed up - it's the right size to fit diagonally across a T-key lock that hasn't got the central pin. I once got a round of applause from passengers for doing it (followed by several requests to do the others too).

43066 · 26 Jan 2020

SlimJim1694 said:
I think the big issue here though is mental health. The guy was clearly in the ballpark of what you might call "eccentric" when he was working and the article states he suffered depression after he was sacked. To wait three years and then do this clearly shows the guy is suffering. I'm glad that he didn't get jail and I hope that he can get help with his problems and move on.

Very well said. I agree with every word of the above.

An unfortunate incident involving an extremely troubled individual. I’m glad the courts have shown leniency.

O L Leigh · 26 Jan 2020

ComUtoR said:
You can buy them off ebay pretty cheap

That shouldn’t happen. I’ve raised this with them myself in the past, as it is a trade in stolen items and current spec railway keys are for security purposes.

Bletchleyite · 26 Jan 2020

O L Leigh said:
That shouldn’t happen. I’ve raised this with them myself in the past, as it is a trade in stolen items and current spec railway keys are for security purposes.

Even if they weren't they are just square keys, really easy to fabricate one. If the railway wants a secure key it needs a new design and to replace all the locks, ideally based on one of the patented security key designs like Mul-T-Lock so they're not easily copied.

Reporting it to Ebay is futile, really.

whoosh · 26 Jan 2020

Timrud said:
He should've gone to prison for this

I disagree. There are limited prison places for much more serious and violent crimes than pressing an emergency stop plunger on a train and causing a delay.

Of course, the delay has caused inconvenience and caused the industry a financial loss, but no one was hurt or put at risk. It's not even a "hijacking" - a ridiculous attention grabbing headline! It's about as much a hijacking as me hiding someone's car keys so they can't move their car.

The court has dealt with this sensibly.

Raul_Duke · 26 Jan 2020

Cab security is an absolute joke. Particularly contrasted with how station staff can get Stazi-like with spotters taking pictures, the lack of real bins on platforms due to “security,” and the endless chanting of “see it say it sorted.”

You don’t even need to fabricate or buy a T key. I’m sure most drivers who have locked themselves out whilst changing ends have been glad if they’re driving stock with a galley for example.....

I sometimes read the ASLEF LDC minutes for our depot when I’m killing time.

They’ve raised the issue of cab security every meeting with management for about two years. It’s still ongoing, something about who’s funding deadbolts for the doors the TOC or the leasing company.

When you consider the amount of money they happily spend on pointless things.....

ComUtoR · 26 Jan 2020

Some cabs don't even need a key.

Bletchleyite · 26 Jan 2020

Why is it actually an issue? What is someone going to do, prat with the PA? You can't nick off with the train.

The only real risk I can think of is staff assault if they have sought refuge in there.

43066 · 26 Jan 2020

Bletchleyite said:
Why is it actually an issue? What is someone going to do, prat with the PA? You can't nick off with the train.

The only real risk I can think of is staff assault if they have sought refuge in there.

In theory someone who knew what they were doing could override the safety systems and move the train with doors open, drive through red signals etc.

Bletchleyite · 26 Jan 2020

43066 said:
In theory someone who knew what they were doing could override the safety systems and move the train with doors open, drive through red signals etc.

They'd not get far.

SouthStand · 26 Jan 2020

Dr_Paul said:
There was a case some years back of a bus driver who was suffering from severe mental strain who 'hijacked' his own bus, closing the doors when he started off from Stratford and driving everyone not into Central London (I think it was on the 25 route) but up to Epping Forest, so that, as he put it, his passengers could enjoy a day out in the countryside. I don't know what happened to him.

Probably made him an editor

43096 · 26 Jan 2020

Bletchleyite said:
Even if they weren't they are just square keys, really easy to fabricate one. If the railway wants a secure key it needs a new design and to replace all the locks, ideally based on one of the patented security key designs like Mul-T-Lock so they're not easily copied.

Even if they did that, the volume of keys required would make it a pointless exercise - even if keys were logged and managed the volume involved would soon make it difficult to track.

I'm with you - I don't think it is really that much of an issue.

37057 · 26 Jan 2020

I must admit the times I've gone to stations at night to deal with faults and the simplicity of gaining access to trains is quiet strange. Keys can make their way to the wrong hands easily and as long as you have a vest chances are nobody's going to question what you're doing either.

I've even walked into a depot in Glasgow on a Sunday evening and the only two people I saw the entire time I was there were busy watching TV. Plenty of trains to meddle with though!

Dai Corner · 26 Jan 2020

Am I right in thinking a driver would find himself in trouble if he had an unauthorised person in his cab?

If it's against the rules to invite someone in, surely more effective measure should be in place to keep uninvited people out.

Tetchytyke · 26 Jan 2020

Timrud said:
He should've gone to prison for this

Why? Nobody was put in any danger, he's just caused financial pain to his former employer.

It's only a slightly more aggressive version of deliberately pulling a passcom.

Ex-train driver sentenced for incident at Cannon Street

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