Aggressive man jailed after assault on emergency worker – Buckinghamshire

A man found sleeping in a station’s female toilets has been jailed for nine weeks after assaulting an emergency worker and threatening a member of railway staff.  

Shane Grooby, 44, of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, appeared at Milton Keynes Magistrates’ Court where he pleaded guilty to assault of an emergency worker, obstructing a police officer and threatening behaviour with intent to cause fear.

On Thursday 15 October, magistrates sentenced him to a total of nine weeks in prison. He is also required to pay a £122 victim surcharge.

At Aylesbury railway station on Monday 6 April, a security guard was doing his routine station checks before it shut for the night. As he was checking the female toilets, at around 9.30pm, he found Grooby in one of the cubicles. 

The security guard attempted to wake Grooby up, which was met with threatening language as Grooby came to and said “get out of here or I am going to knock you out”. 

At this point, the security guard called the police as Grooby refused to leave the station’s female toilets.

When a British Transport Police (BTP) patrolling officer arrived at the toilets to escort Grooby out of the station, Grooby became obstructive. He then used the toilet wall to push against the officer to resist arrest before the officer used captor spray and called for further assistance.

Additional officers arrived and Grooby was subsequently arrested under the Public Order Act and taken to custody. While being presented in custody, Grooby said “corona, corona, corona” and coughed towards the Custody Sergeant.

BTP Police Constable, Christopher Woolley, said: “Threatening behaviour towards railway staff on the network will not be tolerated under any circumstances.

“Grooby’s actions on that day were unacceptable and I’m thankful to the courts for handing down a custodial sentence.”