A Northfield man has been sentenced to almost 4 months in prison after assaulting a ticket inspector over a £2.20 train ticket.
Elliot Nash, 32, was verbally abusive to three revenue protection managers and refused to buy a ticket when he was challenged as he travelled on a train between Kings Norton and Northfield on 11th November 2016.
A female inspector’s body camera filmed Nash as he swore at the inspectors and threatened them with physical violence before assaulting one male inspector, pushing hum and kicking him.
Nash was identified from the footage and arrested at his Northfield home two hours later by British Transport Police officers. He was charged with common assault and two public order offences against both staff and members of the public.
Nash pleaded guilty at Birmingham Magistrates Court and on 19 January was jailed for 15 weeks.
PC Nicola Mallaber from BTP said: “Despite the overwhelming evidence against him, Nash had the audacity to deny the offences initially, only changing his plea when the case went to trial.
“As the footage shows, his attitude is completely unacceptable and there was absolutely no need for this to have escalated into violence… all for the sake of a £2.20 fare.
“No member of rail staff should be spoken to in this way or attacked simply for doing their job. We hope this spell behind bars will teach Nash a valuable lesson and make him review his behaviour in the future.”
London Midland’s head of security and revenue protection, Darren Hanley, said “No colleague or customer should have to see behaviour like this when travelling by train. Fare dodging, anti-social behaviour and violence will never be tolerated by London Midland.
“In partnership with the British Transport Police and local forces we have made great strides in reducing crime and fare evasion in recent years. Incidents like this just make us more determined to make our railways even safer.”