RJ
Established Member
Over the course of the Easter weekend between Friday and Monday, numerous members of railway staff attempted to have me arrested. All of these attempts failed because the BTP were satisfied I had not committed any offence.
On Friday, gateline staff at FGW allegedly called up the police and told them that I had a gun. This was a vindictive, vexatious and categorical lie. I presume it was a ruse to discredit me in response to the fact that I was prepared to act as a witness to them making unnecessary offensive physical contact with another passenger.
On Sunday, the BTP were called to have me removed from a train at Ashford International. The staff lied to the BTP by telling them I didn't have a valid ticket. I have no idea what else was said to them to get them to attend.
On Monday, I had two of Southeastern's REOs attempt to physically drag me off a Class 395 at Ashford International - one of them had my wrist and performed a Chinese burn to the extent that my hand was bruised afterwards (I took a photograph,) whilst the other one was twisting my upper arm and decided to grip it with excessive force when I told him I was wounded there and requested he let go. The BTP were telephoned by Southeastern staff. Once the REOs gave up manhandling me, I then phoned the BTP to report what had just happened. It was very much the case that the REOs knew before touching me that it was physically impossible for them to haul me out of an airline seat and through a narrow aisle, which led me to believe they were not trying to remove me from the railway (Byelaw 24) but rather trying to provoke me to launch an assault on them. I have full control over my temper at all times and whilst they were attempting to haul me, told them in no uncertain terms that I was not stupid enough to assault anybody and that the whole incident was being caught on CCTV. They gave up upon realising that in whatever they were attempting to do, they were going to fail and dig an even deeper hole for themselves.
It was evident that they were not trained to any standard how to physically handle a person and with no authority to use any devices to immobilise people, I found myself wondering what the hell these "Revenue Enforcement Officers" thought they were doing.
Depsite the fact that the OBM, the REOs and various other Southeastern employees witnessing the incident wanting me off the train, I was told that Southeastern's staff allegedly rang the police and told them that I was being physically restrained and held on the train! The BTP were not going to attend at this point, but they did come as they received multiple calls to say a passenger was being assaulted by railway staff.
I'm not posting to recall full details of what happened - I had a valid ticket in all three cases, in the latter two cases I volunteered my details and suggested they go down the TIR route if they didn't like the tickets I was using and there were no aggravating factors as I'm never, ever rude to these people. The point I wish to make is that it is evident some railway staff fail to understand what the police are there for. Surely they exist so they can be called on to deal with criminal offences - not to aid power trips from people who feel they have the authority to force customers off their trains without any real reason - or entertain any other playground type games.
It's a small wonder I read accounts from staff on the internet who bemoan the BTP for not attending when they call, or placing the request for assistance as low priority - it's because of the colleagues who do things like the above and waste the police's time. My opinion is that the BTP are probably fed up with receiving calls for assistance with far fetched stories from railway staff where no actual offence has been committed.
Given I make sure I'm never in breach of the three failures, perhaps is it not so inconceivable that some of the less scrupulous members of staff on the railways decide the best way forward is to completely fabricate a story, just to get the BTP to attend. Personally, I'd like to see that anybody who does that is reported and held accountable for their actions. Such asinine attitudes have no place in roles where staff have a responsibility for the safety of other people.
On Friday, gateline staff at FGW allegedly called up the police and told them that I had a gun. This was a vindictive, vexatious and categorical lie. I presume it was a ruse to discredit me in response to the fact that I was prepared to act as a witness to them making unnecessary offensive physical contact with another passenger.
On Sunday, the BTP were called to have me removed from a train at Ashford International. The staff lied to the BTP by telling them I didn't have a valid ticket. I have no idea what else was said to them to get them to attend.
On Monday, I had two of Southeastern's REOs attempt to physically drag me off a Class 395 at Ashford International - one of them had my wrist and performed a Chinese burn to the extent that my hand was bruised afterwards (I took a photograph,) whilst the other one was twisting my upper arm and decided to grip it with excessive force when I told him I was wounded there and requested he let go. The BTP were telephoned by Southeastern staff. Once the REOs gave up manhandling me, I then phoned the BTP to report what had just happened. It was very much the case that the REOs knew before touching me that it was physically impossible for them to haul me out of an airline seat and through a narrow aisle, which led me to believe they were not trying to remove me from the railway (Byelaw 24) but rather trying to provoke me to launch an assault on them. I have full control over my temper at all times and whilst they were attempting to haul me, told them in no uncertain terms that I was not stupid enough to assault anybody and that the whole incident was being caught on CCTV. They gave up upon realising that in whatever they were attempting to do, they were going to fail and dig an even deeper hole for themselves.
It was evident that they were not trained to any standard how to physically handle a person and with no authority to use any devices to immobilise people, I found myself wondering what the hell these "Revenue Enforcement Officers" thought they were doing.
Depsite the fact that the OBM, the REOs and various other Southeastern employees witnessing the incident wanting me off the train, I was told that Southeastern's staff allegedly rang the police and told them that I was being physically restrained and held on the train! The BTP were not going to attend at this point, but they did come as they received multiple calls to say a passenger was being assaulted by railway staff.
I'm not posting to recall full details of what happened - I had a valid ticket in all three cases, in the latter two cases I volunteered my details and suggested they go down the TIR route if they didn't like the tickets I was using and there were no aggravating factors as I'm never, ever rude to these people. The point I wish to make is that it is evident some railway staff fail to understand what the police are there for. Surely they exist so they can be called on to deal with criminal offences - not to aid power trips from people who feel they have the authority to force customers off their trains without any real reason - or entertain any other playground type games.
It's a small wonder I read accounts from staff on the internet who bemoan the BTP for not attending when they call, or placing the request for assistance as low priority - it's because of the colleagues who do things like the above and waste the police's time. My opinion is that the BTP are probably fed up with receiving calls for assistance with far fetched stories from railway staff where no actual offence has been committed.
Given I make sure I'm never in breach of the three failures, perhaps is it not so inconceivable that some of the less scrupulous members of staff on the railways decide the best way forward is to completely fabricate a story, just to get the BTP to attend. Personally, I'd like to see that anybody who does that is reported and held accountable for their actions. Such asinine attitudes have no place in roles where staff have a responsibility for the safety of other people.
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