Man "knocked out [...] for putting his feet on the seats" on a train

LuckyReds

Interesting story in the Evening Standard.

A bit an extreme way to deal with rude bastards who have their feet on the seats of a train, but this story has some absolutely quality bits:

1. It sounds like he initially responded in quite a smart-ass way:

I explained, 'My shoes aren't on the chair'. And this was repeated several times. I turned to my girlfriend and said: 'Who the f*** does this guy think he is?'

2. Then decided he best hide behind his girlfriend:

He placed himself above me. My girlfriend stepped in to diffuse the situation and I stood behind her. Then it goes black - I was punched once very hard in the face.

3. To add insult to injury, then the British Transport Police pretty much told him he deserved it.. possibly based upon his own girlfriend's statement:

The reason is that, based on evidence available, including the independent witness account, the decision was made that [the suspect] had reasonable excuse to act in the way he did.

In another article he goes on to say "I didn't die, but I could've". Although that did make me laugh at first, to be fair to him there has been some horrible one-punch-murder stories in the past couple of years. Still, I wonder what the witness told the BTP for them to claim him getting knocked out was a reasonable response?

Leuth

If a train's mostly empty, feet on the seats is fine.

*retires 25 metres*

TellyTubby

Shoes on seats are never acceptable. Kin dog shit and mud isn't something I want to sit on on the train or bus.

Perfectly reasonable to twat the dick.

masicat

Ade Edmondson did it once. He didn't do it twice.

se9addick

The bloke that got punched can't possibly be telling the whole story given that BTP said that the suspect behaved reasonably.

Greenie

Fair play, a bit more of this would do the world a lot of good.

Garrymanilow

LuckyReds said:

Interesting story in the Evening Standard.

A bit an extreme way to deal with rude bastards who have their feet on the seats of a train, but this story has some absolutely quality bits:

1. It sounds like he initially responded in quite a smart-ass way:

I explained, 'My shoes aren't on the chair'. And this was repeated several times. I turned to my girlfriend and said: 'Who the f*** does this guy think he is?'

2. Then decided he best hide behind his girlfriend:

He placed himself above me. My girlfriend stepped in to diffuse the situation and I stood behind her. Then it goes black - I was punched once very hard in the face.

3. To add insult to injury, then the British Transport Police pretty much told him he deserved it.. possibly based upon his own girlfriend's statement:

The reason is that, based on evidence available, including the independent witness account, the decision was made that [the suspect] had reasonable excuse to act in the way he did.

In another article he goes on to say "I didn't die, but I could've". Although that did make me laugh at first, to be fair to him there has been some horrible one-punch-murder stories in the past couple of years. Still, I wonder what the witness told the BTP for them to claim him getting knocked out was a reasonable response?

Diffuse the situation? Diffuse? Oh Evening Standard..

soapy_jones

Glad he got twatted.

boggzy

The protocol in BR days was that it's acceptable if you remove shoes first!

swords_alive

Woolwich line. Never known anything like it. Even the people who you think wouldn't possibly do it, soon enough feet up and sod everyone else. Even on a wet day, as if their footwear isn't wet, but these people are different. As bad as all those with cheap headsets, wrapped up in a world of one.
Thanks for posting @LuckyReds ; this is a long overdue thread topic.

Chizz

The driver was alerted to the alleged incident and he was taken by ambulance to Southend Hospital.

I wonder what happened to the driver, how he is now, and who took over driving the train.

PragueAddick

Since I upgraded my IOS on my iPhone I get wholly unwelcome news alerts from channels such as The Sun (and can't seem to stop them, anyone know how?). But the one I got last week was better than this. It said "Woman sits on man who had his feet on the train seat"

Stig

Leuth said:

If a train's mostly empty, feet on the seats is fine.

*retires 25 metres*

No it bloody well isn't. The reason that putting feet on seats is such an obnoxious habit is nothing to do with blocking seats, it's because no-one wants to sit in the old faecal matter and detritus that will come off the soles of your shoes. Don't be so scummy whether anyone else is in the carriage or not.

JohnBoyUK

Surely if the fella's got his feet up on the seats, the apt punishment is a two footed stamp on his knee cap rather than a punch in the face?

PragueAddick said:

Since I upgraded my IOS on my iPhone I get wholly unwelcome news alerts from channels such as The Sun (and can't seem to stop them, anyone know how?). But the one I got last week was better than this. It said "Woman sits on man who had his feet on the train seat"

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2953175/fed-up-woman-appears-to-sit-on-man-who-refused-to-take-his-feet-off-seat-in-bid-to-teach-him-a-lesson/

cantersaddick

Leuth said:

If a train's mostly empty, feet on the seats is fine.

*retires 25 metres*

That's flagable

cafcfan

"Sam Holland was allegedly travelling home from London to Leigh-on-Sea on a C2C train".

Surely it's extraordinarily cautious journalism to pop an allegedly in that bit isn't it?

No one is going to sue you for suggesting they were on a train are they?

Or was it the bit that suggested he lived in Leigh?

Anyway, karma at work.

kings hill addick

My best guess is that the chap that was hit did something (based on witness reports) that justified the other chap hitting him. Maybe he threw a punch himself - or it was reported that he did.

I would never lie to the police but I would tend to defend anyone that stood up to this kind of anti-social behavior. Anyone that asks their girlfriend in public "Who the f**k does this guy think he is?" when he is being asked to remove his feet from a seat is demonstrating a level of defiance. It is not unreasonable to assume that he waved his hands around in the air in a threatening way.

I'd be happy for people that, needlessly, put their feet on seats on trains to be thrown off at the next stop and banned for life - irrespective as to how many free seats there are on the carriage.

Huskaris

Contrary to popular belief, violence quite often is the answer, this guy won't do it again.

It's just such a pity that in general people who use violence are complete arseholes themselves.

I know, for example, if I had a family member who died because someone was texting, I would be putting my fist through people's windows left right and centre on a daily basis, grabbing their phone and smashing it.

In a lot of cases, it genuinely is the only way they will get punished, because after this week, maybe as far as next week when its out the headlines, everything will be back to normal.

People need correcting, and for the type of people who put feet on seats/use phones at the wheel, they are the kind of people for whom words don't get through, which is why they are such inconsiderate arseholes in the first place.

Leroy Ambrose

Bloke thinks he's all that. Picks the wrong fight. Gets a tune-up for it. Now whining about it.

Got what he deserved, bollocks to him

Solidgone

.....and letting dogs sit on the seats.

randy andy

Stig said:

Leuth said:

If a train's mostly empty, feet on the seats is fine.

*retires 25 metres*

No it bloody well isn't. The reason that putting feet on seats is such an obnoxious habit is nothing to do with blocking seats, it's because no-one wants to sit in the old faecal matter and detritus that will come off the soles of your shoes. Don't be so scummy whether anyone else is in the carriage or not.

Luckily whenever I get on a nearly empty train it's littered with free seat covers (otherwise known as Metros), so if you feel the need to put your feet up there's no reason to get anything on the seat.

PeterGage

randy andy said:

Stig said:

Leuth said:

If a train's mostly empty, feet on the seats is fine.

*retires 25 metres*

No it bloody well isn't. The reason that putting feet on seats is such an obnoxious habit is nothing to do with blocking seats, it's because no-one wants to sit in the old faecal matter and detritus that will come off the soles of your shoes. Don't be so scummy whether anyone else is in the carriage or not.

Luckily whenever I get on a nearly empty train it's littered with free seat covers (otherwise known as Metros), so if you feel the need to put your feet up there's no reason to get anything on the seat.

I guess @randyandy that you would be happy for your guests to put their feet (in shoes) on your chairs/settees at your home?

Leuth

Ooh, you're all so hard!

Microscopic amounts of street detritus on your kecks - no more really than you'd pick up by other means - versus being 'sorted out', punched, possibly permanently injured. Who knew that crime (assault) had so many advocates on CL?

I personally avoid stepping in shit. And if I had stepped in it, or if my shoes were muddy, then I wouldn't put them on the seats, would I? Everything else is trace amounts and can be disregarded. You're not going to catch toxocariasis on the 18.07 out of Cannon Street because someone had their feet on your seat on the way in.

I'd like to see a Mythbusters-style forensic analysis of two seats, one of which had passengers sit on it and one of which had a combination of bums and feet. I bet there wouldn't be much difference, microbially speaking.

The real issue here, if there is one, is people who let their dogs shit in the road and don't clean it up. They're the real enemy. Focus your violent fantasies on them.

shine166

Cmon now, feet on seats is the last of your worries if living in london. The worst air pollution in Europe and people get all pissy over feet on a chair, when you spend your whole day breathing in other people skin and shit

Addickted2TheReds

I know you find it fun to have a different view to the majority, but trying to argue that it's not wrong to put your feet on train seats is taking it a bit far.

Granted it's not punishable by a punch in the face, but it's a complete black and white case in terms of acceptable social behaviour.

Who the fuck does this guy think he is?

Wheresmeticket

No. The bloke who punched him should go to prison. Sounds like he was looking for a fight and picked his victim. Very tough. Wanker, but there's a lot of twats around who are inadequate enough to need to prove themselves as long as the odds are with them.

Greenie

Wheresmeticket? said:

No. The bloke who punched him should go to prison. Sounds like he was looking for a fight and picked his victim. Very tough. Wanker, but there's a lot of twats around who are inadequate enough to need to prove themselves as long as the odds are with them.

Wheresmeticket? said:

No. The bloke who punched him should go to prison. Sounds like he was looking for a fight and picked his victim. Very tough. Wanker, but there's a lot of twats around who are inadequate enough to need to prove themselves as long as the odds are with them.

Put yer feet up and chill mate.

addick1965

Good,It will teach the twat some manners.

Wheresmeticket

Greenie said:

Wheresmeticket? said:

No. The bloke who punched him should go to prison. Sounds like he was looking for a fight and picked his victim. Very tough. Wanker, but there's a lot of twats around who are inadequate enough to need to prove themselves as long as the odds are with them.

Wheresmeticket? said:

No. The bloke who punched him should go to prison. Sounds like he was looking for a fight and picked his victim. Very tough. Wanker, but there's a lot of twats around who are inadequate enough to need to prove themselves as long as the odds are with them.

Put yer feet up and chill mate.

You looking for a fight?

SantaClaus

With the police service being increasingly overstretched we need people like this to mete out some corporal punishment on their behalf. It's Cameron's Big Society in action.

Wheresmeticket

Yes. I want to see more violence dished out by unstable individuals who feel that someone else has committed some minor act that they disapprove of. That will make me feel much safer..