He did the right thing, throw the perp off the train. On the other side of the flip coin, if he really wanted to avoid a potential lawsuit, the police could have been called to arrest him upon arrival to the station. Either way, something should have been done. KGS
Revealed, the hounding of a first-class hero: Why the banker who threw a foul-mouthed student off a train could end up in court
By ANDREW MALONE
Last updated at 10:30 PM on 17th December 2011
DAILYMAIL: Relaxing on the train after a 12-hour day at the office, all Alan Pollock wanted — along with his fellow commuters — was for the journey to pass peacefully and painlessly.
While his young children would be in bed by the time he got home, Mr Pollock was looking forward to a glass of wine with his wife as he headed back from his job at an investment bank in Edinburgh.
But his evening was about to take a dramatic turn as the train’s white-haired ticket inspector roused one young man from apparent slumber in the carriage.
Amid a volley of foul-mouthed abuse directed by the young passenger at the elderly ticket inspector, the train is delayed at a station with its doors open, for several minutes.
Other passengers mutter and fume as the young man in a knitted hat — later identified as 19-year-old student Sam Main — fails to produce a valid ticket.
‘You can sit here all night if you want — I’m getting paid for this,’ the ticket inspector tells the student, who refuses to leave the train and insists he has paid the correct fare but been given the wrong ticket by ScotRail.
Main, who had been out drinking after finishing an exam, is heard cursing as he insists he’s paid the correct money, and will not get off.
Sam Main’s facial wounds. Alan Pollock pushed him out the train door
As other passengers watch, including a mother with a group of young children, the student is heard repeating to the inspector that he has shown him his ‘f****** ticket’ and again refuses to get off.
In a loud voice, the inspector then warns the student that other passengers will not be happy unless he pays or gets off the train, allowing the journey to continue.
The guard repeats: ‘I’ll sit here all night, pal. I’m getting paid for this but they (the passengers) will start moaning. You’re off now. Other folk will start (to get unhappy). Why should they pay and you not?’
Clearly angry, Main retorts: ‘But I have paid — I will sit here all night.’
Sitting further down the carriage, Alan Pollock, 35, has listened to every word.
As the minutes tick by, and the train remains stationary, he decides he’s had enough.
Alan Pollock should not be prosecuted. He was merely participating in Cameron’s Big Society and was assisting in the normal running of British Rail. You might as well prosecute people for tresspassing while volunteering at the local library.