Put your feet on a train seat and get a criminal record

[Coxster]

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/...ain+seat+and+get+a+criminal+record/article.do

A commuter who put his feet on a seat during his train journey home has been prosecuted in a clampdown on antisocial behaviour.

Babiker Fadol was spotted by a security patrol after stretching out his legs and dozing off.

He was ordered to attend court under a 120-year-old bye-law which makes it a criminal offence "to interfere with the comfort or convenience" of fellow passengers.

He pleaded guilty and was given a one-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £50 costs. This means he now has a criminal record.

Yesterday, the 45-year-old declared that his prosecution was a waste of money and said the courts should concentrate on tackling more serious crimes.

He said: "I am not happy about it. It is wasting the court's time, my time and taxpayers' money.

"Putting your feet on the seat is a bad habit but it's the least of the problems on trains. They should focus on real crimes."

But train operator Merseyrail - the only company to deal so strongly with passengers who put their feet on seats - said several passengers had been prosecuted for antisocial behaviour, including smoking in carriages.

A spokesman said: "We are tackling things that aren't the crimes of the century but which irritate the 99.9 per cent of passengers who find such behaviour unacceptable.

"We've reduced incidents such as robberies and assaults on our trains by 60 per cent and we're now tackling lower-level troublemakers.

"Passengers are informed whenever our security teams are on board their train, and if they choose to continue to behave in an unacceptable manner they will be dealt with accordingly."

Fadol was caught by security officials who were using headmounted filming equipment to record the incident, while his train home to Chester was at the station in nearby Capenhurst on March 29.

He took his feet off the seat when asked to, but was still given a court summons.

He appeared at Chester Magistrates' Court charged under the 1889 Railway Regulations Act with behaving in a disorderly, indecent or offensive manner that interfered with the comfort or convenience of a person on the railway.

His solicitor Erwin Bamforth told the court: "It's absolute nonsense. He did no harm and when he was asked to put his feet down he co-operated.

"Now he finds himself with a criminal conviction for the first time. He didn't appreciate it was an offence."

In February last year builder Rudolph Mills, 39, was arrested when he put his feet on a bench at Cambridge station.

Mr Mills, from North London, was taken to court accused of soiling railway property and preventing other rail users from sitting on the bench in contravention of railway bye-laws.

However, the Crown Prosecution Service dropped the case.

 

[compsci]

Can we have prosecutions of all the people who block aisles and doors with massive amounts of luggage and bikes, talking loudly, failure to control children and all the other things which can turn normally peaceful peak time travel into a nightmare?

 

[yorkie]

We virtually live in a police state now thanks to the new, right-wing labour.

While I don't agree with feet on seats, it is ridiculous that he is termed a "criminal" when he co-operated. Fair enough if he'd been caught several times before, but that does not appear to be the case.

If they really want to punish people, they should have the option of doing an hours worth of cleaning the trains rather than go to court. That would probably be more effective and make them think again and not brand them as criminals.

So it's official now, putting feet on seats is worse than motor offences such as speeding? What a ridiculous right-wing country we live in!:x

 

[Pathfinder]

I have to say that is "Big Brother" gone mad,head mounted cameras for god sake,how bad is it on merseyrail,the tyne & wear metro has inspectors during the day and travel support officers at night,none of these guys wear "headcams".I suggest the security personnel on merseyrail get a life and look for people committing more serious offences than feet on seats or are they just soft and turning a blind eye to the "harder element"...Anything for an easy life eh !

 

[WessexWarrior]

Absolutely insane. Have these jobsworths got nothing better to do, like prevent moron kids graffitiing all over new trains, etc etc?

 

[DescendingSadly]

Absolutely insane. Have these jobsworths got nothing better to do, like prevent moron kids graffitiing all over new trains, etc etc?

No, for that requires effort.

 

[Donny Dave]

:roll: Once again, they are going after the easy targets....

 

[Dennis]

If anyone breaks the rules, they should accept the punishment, be it feet on seats, speeding, vandalism or any other crime. And remember, ignorance is no defence.

On the other hand, save the cost and effort of going to court and simply make the penalty immediate confiscation of footwear .

 

[Pathfinder]

Dennis,get a grip man,it wasnt ignorance on this guys part,he was tired and stretched out,yes he shouldnt have done it,but,honestly,hand on heart,you must have in some point in your life put your feet on the seat opposite ,i know i have,but have made sure my shoes were'nt dirty or i have put newspaper on seat opposite.Merseyrail are going for the easy target here,they would be better off looking at more serious offences.

 

[WessexWarrior]

No, for that requires effort.

True, sadly.

If anyone breaks the rules, they should accept the punishment, be it feet on seats, speeding, vandalism or any other crime. And remember, ignorance is no defence.

What are the rules on putting your feet on the seats? I bet 95% of the people who use trains every day don't know if there's a set rule about the matter, and if they wanted people to know, they should make it clear. They're clear enough about just about every single other rule on trains: you can barely see the walls on Desiros for safety stickers.

 

[Nick W]

Was he even wearing shoes at the time?

Can we have prosecutions of all the people who block aisles and doors with massive amounts of luggage and bikes

Only if they start putting DVTs etc on trains

 

[Dennis]

Dennis,get a grip man,it wasnt ignorance on this guys part,he was tired and stretched out,yes he shouldnt have done it,but,honestly,hand on heart,you must have in some point in your life put your feet on the seat opposite ,i know i have,but have made sure my shoes were'nt dirty or i have put newspaper on seat opposite.Merseyrail are going for the easy target here,they would be better off looking at more serious offences.

While it is admirable that some considerate folks take precautions against 'soiling' the seats, it must still be considered a disgusting habit, contributing this type of disgusting filth.

I'm not allowed to smoke on trains in the interests of passenger comfort, and I fully respect that rule. Yet it is being suggested that it's OK for me to sit in cack transferred from dirty shoes. Any measures to imporve the travelling environment are to be commended.

Also, has anyone ever been forced to request removal of feet from seats in order to sit down on a busy train? Another example of passengers ignorant and inconsiderate behaviour.

 

[Turbostar]

While it is admirable that some considerate folks take precautions against 'soiling' the seats, it must still be considered a disgusting habit, contributing this type of disgusting filth.

I'm not allowed to smoke on trains in the interests of passenger comfort, and I fully respect that rule. Yet it is being suggested that it's OK for me to sit in cack transferred from dirty shoes. Any measures to imporve the travelling environment are to be commended.

Also, has anyone ever been forced to request removal of feet from seats in order to sit down on a busy train? Another example of passengers ignorant and inconsiderate behaviour.

Get a life! How often do you see someone on a crowded train taking up another seat with their feet on it!? So what you gonna do, get a law passed that forbids you to read, eat, listen to music, etc. etc., & just sit there like a dork!? Doh! :mad:

Mart

 

[richa2002]

Dennis,get a grip man,it wasnt ignorance on this guys part,he was tired and stretched out,yes he shouldnt have done it,but,honestly,hand on heart,you must have in some point in your life put your feet on the seat opposite ,i know i have,but have made sure my shoes were'nt dirty or i have put newspaper on seat opposite.Merseyrail are going for the easy target here,they would be better off looking at more serious offences.

The sensible thing to do is take your shoes off...

 

[Max]

Also, has anyone ever been forced to request removal of feet from seats in order to sit down on a busy train? Another example of passengers ignorant and inconsiderate behaviour.

I think you will find that the person in question removed his feet when asked - he had gone to sleep for god's sake! Dennis, if you have ever put your feet on the seat opposite (which I'm sure you will have done at some point in your life), I'm sure you would have been angry if you had been forced to go to court and pay a £50 fine, and even been given a criminal record!

I think this is absolutely mad, and I feel a lot of sympathy for the person involved. You shouldn't get a criminal record for doing it, surely being told off for it is enough? What a waste of court time!

 

[Techniquest]

Whilst I admire Merseyrail for standing up for what is right and moral, sending someone to court for this is beyond mental.

I do feel sorry for this chap. It's way OTT!

 

[ChrisCooper]

Whilst I don't agree with people putting their feet on seats, this sort of response is well over the top. You wonder what sort of society we are becoming when something that in the past would have warrented a quiet request to stop doing it, and as long as it was obeyed, no more action would have been taken, now results in a fine and a criminal record. Anyway, taking action against behaviour that is annoying to most people could go a hell of a long way, afterall, on most commuter trains communicating with a fellow passenger (even quietly) is at least enough to warrent removal from the train, if not a fine and criminal record.

 

[tedted]

Knowing Merseyrail, surely there were plenty of other seats that others could use?

 

[yorkie]

On today's 10:30 King's Cross to Aberdeen, one person had feet on seats, several people left luggage blocking doors and gangways, two people were on mobiles in the quiet coach and one person was delaying the train doors closing by attempting to smoke when the train was due to depart. I guess if this was Merseyrail they'd all be in court? You'd need to build a lot of courts to deal with them all! May be best for us all to become lawyers...

 

[66526]

Personally I think people putting thier feet on the seats should be fined £20 if they do not remove thier feet or do it again disobeying a direct instruction from staff. The justice system really gets up my tits and it is a joke.