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Bandit Country


Victor Vectis

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Quite often people ask on the forum is such & such an area 'safe'. The general feeling is that 'trouble' can occur anywhere but rarely does.

 

Yesterday evening, 6ish, we were approaching the railway bridge just outside Stratford on Avon and I noticed splashes in the water as if kids were chucking stuff in. Getting nearer I saw 3 kids running onto the railway bridge where the ballast would provide them with plenty of ammunition. I had a camera ready and pointed it in their direction and this seemed to scare them away but as we went under the bridge one of them was shooting pellets at us from a blue pistol looking thing, BB gun?

 

Anyway no harm was done, the moral being, trouble can occur anywhere and having a camera ready is a good idea.

 

We though about phoning the cops but couldn't remember the non 999 number. Is it 112?

Edited by Victor Vectis
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We phoned 101 last September when moored in Rugeley as somebody was throwing stones at some of the moored boats. When we finally got to speak to somebody, about five minutes later, the operator told us that we should have dialled 999 as a crime was being committed.

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999 on 2 counts:

1/ Using a gun, even if it is only a BB gun.

2/ Trespass on a live railway line, so severe risk to life.

 

3/ Armed Trespass, which carries a mandatory minimum custodial sentence.

4/ Posession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, which carries a mandatory minimum custodial sentence.

5/ Firing a weapon beyond premises.

 

If anyone points anything which looks like a gun at you, you call 999. You are not trained to tell the difference between a BB gun and a lethal firearm, for your own safety and the safety of everyone in the region you should assume the worst.

 

I was shot at a year or so ago, the Police went straight to "was it a bb gun?" as if they were looking for me to excuse the actions of the shooter. My answer, I could not identify the gun with any accuracy from 70 yards away, but bbs don't normally travel that far unless the gun is modified in which case it's an illegal firearm.

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I can assure you no-one ever needs that scenario.

JP

I have only seen it happen once. On a train passing behind St. Luke's hospital which back then in the early 70,s a psychiatric hospital. A patient had eluded staff and he managed to get to the line and stepped into the path of the train carry us to our Saturday jobs in Middlesbrough.

 

To say the driver was distraut was a bit of an understatement. Needless to say the guy was killed and the driver managed to move the train to the next signal box to call the emergency services (I guess now they would stay put and make a call on a mobile).

 

By the time we got to Middlesbrough station the driver was pretty distressed. It still sticks in my mind now (I was probably 15 or 16 at the time). I didn't see anything gruesome at all, just the guy looking directly at the train and calmly stepping into the track. I distinctly recall the effect on the driver and I wonder sometimes how he fared after that.

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I can assure you no-one ever needs that scenario.

JP

Oh I forgot that a sense of humour is now banned on here too......let's face it if a train did hit them they shouldn't have been on the bridge in the first place....only themselves to blame....I would feel sorry for the train driver but not for anyone trespassing on the tracks.

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

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101…..and it would still be worth doing. The railways wont take kindly to trespass these days. Shame there is never a train crossing when you need it!

 

Please! Young children read these forums, and what you have said is horrible!

  • Greenie 1
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Ah... Stratford upon Avon, underneath the leafy middle-class facade it's just like the Bronx.

 

It's actually one of the ugliest towns I have ever been to. Sorry, folks, but the Shakespeare nonsense is blinding you all.

Stratford-upon-Avon is an eyesore.

Whitby, Richmond (North Yorks), Tenby - try these instead.

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It's actually one of the ugliest towns I have ever been to. Sorry, folks, but the Shakespeare nonsense is blinding you all.

Stratford-upon-Avon is an eyesore.

Whitby, Richmond (North Yorks), Tenby - try these instead.

Stratford is not that bad, and like most towns the canal goes through the worst part. Leamington Spa is the same, nice town but canal in the worst part.
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Oh I forgot that a sense of humour is now banned on here too......let's face it if a train did hit them they shouldn't have been on the bridge in the first place....only themselves to blame....I would feel sorry for the train driver but not for anyone trespassing on the tracks.

Cheers

Gareth

Gareth,

 

I did recognise there was an element of jest but I also read an undertone into it. Only you know if that was there but if you joke along the lines of 'shame they didn't get mown down by a train' (to paraphrase your comment) then you shouldn't be surprised that it won't be universally met with a laugh whether it was entirely in jest or not.

 

I admit to being sensitive to this subject having spent part of my professional life seeing the consequences of such events and being responsible for preventing such. As a result I don't find anything remotely humorous about it. However I do recognise that many are unsympathetic. I doubt they would be so much with some full on exposure to the reality. The crime of trespass is in no way proportionate to such an outcome.

 

Jon

  • Greenie 1
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I have only seen it happen once. On a train passing behind St. Luke's hospital which back then in the early 70,s a psychiatric hospital. A patient had eluded staff and he managed to get to the line and stepped into the path of the train carry us to our Saturday jobs in Middlesbrough.

 

To say the driver was distraut was a bit of an understatement. Needless to say the guy was killed and the driver managed to move the train to the next signal box to call the emergency services (I guess now they would stay put and make a call on a mobile).

 

By the time we got to Middlesbrough station the driver was pretty distressed. It still sticks in my mind now (I was probably 15 or 16 at the time). I didn't see anything gruesome at all, just the guy looking directly at the train and calmly stepping into the track. I distinctly recall the effect on the driver and I wonder sometimes how he fared after that.

Having once had the task of assisting a BTP officer to peel someone from the front of a train, it isn't a pleasurable experience. The driver on that occasion was badly traumatised. The incident happened at 4.30am and he only got a brief glimpse of her before the train struck. He stopped at the next signal to call in the incident and only when walking back to the train did he realise that she was still on the front of the train which, unsurprisingly, completely freaked him out. I don't know what trauma therapy they give the drivers after this but it would need to be good.

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Having once had the task of assisting a BTP officer to peel someone from the front of a train, it isn't a pleasurable experience. The driver on that occasion was badly traumatised. The incident happened at 4.30am and he only got a brief glimpse of her before the train struck. He stopped at the next signal to call in the incident and only when walking back to the train did he realise that she was still on the front of the train which, unsurprisingly, completely freaked him out. I don't know what trauma therapy they give the drivers after this but it would need to be good.

 

From talking to drivers they now get excellent counselling services if they want it. Most will get taken off driving immediately and can take leave if they want it. Most do! I know of one driver in Yorkshire who had 3 in 6 months and reckons the next one will probably finish him.

 

The public also forget about the track workers who have to inspect the track after any "jumper" and recover as much body parts as possible. Luckily now the actual picking-up is generally done by a specialist company, but in the past the MOM (Mobile Operations Manager) had a big plastic bag! Even the signallers are offered counselling if it occurs in their section.

 

The MOM's I know say it is amazing how quickly the foxes emerge!!

Edited by Graham Davis
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