Train guard punched for asking man to stop smoking (Plymouth, 15/01/2010)

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

A train guard was punched to the floor after asking a passenger to put out a cigarette he was smoking.
The incident happened between Ivybridge and Plymouth on the 1636 First Great Western service from London Paddington to Plymouth on Friday evening.
The guard, who was punched twice on the head, was not seriously hurt, but has suffered headaches since the attack.
The attacker is described as a white man in his 20s, wearing dark-coloured jeans and a dark top.
British Transport Police have appealed to anyone who witnessed the assault just after 2030 GMT.
The guard had been walking through the train when he saw a man leaning out of the window smoking in the vestibule area between two of the coaches.
He asked the man to stop smoking, but as he walked away, he was assaulted from behind.
Pc Amanda Showler said: "Members of railway staff should be able to carry out their duties without fear of attack or intimidation. We are appealing to anyone who witnessed the assault or saw anything suspicious on board the train to come forward."

[IndustryInsider]

Sadly with no CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) installed on HST^▸ (High Speed Train) sets there'll be no footage of this assault. Which, along with internal information displays, is the most disappointing missing element of the recent refresh programme.