Man jailed for assaulting rail staff - Cumbria

A man who violently assaulted two members of rail staff has been jailed following a British Transport Police investigation.

 

Colin Anthony Eaves, aged 36, of Roose Road, Barrow, was found guilty of two counts of assault by Barrow magistrates and sentenced to 22 weeks in jail on Thursday 12 January.

He must also pay compensation totalling £550.

 

The court heard how, on Wednesday 2 November, a passenger on the Northern service from Barrow to Lancaster alerted the conductor that someone was smoking in the toilet cubicle.

 

When the conductor knocked on the door of the cubicle, Eaves opened it and immediately became aggressive; swearing and shouting.

 

Alarmed by Eaves' behaviour, the conductor called for his colleague who asked Eaves for his ticket, which was no longer valid.

 

On leaving the train as requested due to his drunken and aggressive behaviour, Eaves then punched both men and threw a beer can at one, hitting him on the head.

 

He then continued his tirade of abuse - shouting that he hoped they would get cancer, spitting at them and saying that he would stab them.

 

The train driver called British Transport Police and officers arrived and arrested Eaves who was on licence for a previous violent offence.

 

Sergeant David Grant said: "This was a despicable act of violence against two railway employees who were simply doing their job.  Our officers carried out a thorough investigation, and the weight of the evidence we were able to present - including CCTV - has brought about this result.  I am pleased that the court has recognised the seriousness of this offence by giving him custodial sentence."

 

Chris Jackson, regional director at Northern said: “Appalling behaviour like this will not be tolerated on the Northern network.

“While we know incidents like this are rare, with help from British Transport Police we are absolutely committed to making our trains and stations as safe as possible.

“As part of Northern’s on-going fleet upgrade, high-definition CCTV that can be monitored in real time by BTP  is being installed on its trains. Many of our staff also wear bodyworn cameras which are used to tackle anti-social or criminal behaviour.”