Man hurls racist abuse at train passengers and ‘threatens woman who filmed him’
A man has been filmed yelling racist abuse at people on a train before allegedly threatening a woman who started filming him.
The unidentified male was heard shouting ‘this is England’ and calling passengers ‘f***ing foreign c***s’ on a Thameslink service travelling near Croydon, south London, on Thursday.
After a passenger calls his tirade ’embarrassing’, a second man next to the male, appearing to mishear the comment, shouts: ‘It’s not about race, it’s not about race.’
Another passenger then intervenes, telling the first to man to ‘chill out’ before telling him: ‘You’re getting thrown out now.’
Mary Mandefield, a presenter on Hits Radio, said the man threatened her as soon as he saw her filming.
She said he and at least one other man had been ‘starting on anyone’, including a woman in her 70s, used racist slurs and threw punches.
Police are investigating reports of a ‘fight’ on the train around the time the incident was filmed.
It’s thought the men were ejected from the train at the next stop, East Croydon.
Writing on X, Ms Mandefield said police were called and ‘a woman with a [Southeastern railways] jacket on … stepped in and was amazing, even though they then went for her’.
‘I get the train every day, easily the most horrendous journey & experience I’ve had’, she added.
Thameslink was investigating the incident on Thursday evening and said it would try to ‘check on customers at stations’.
Ms Mandefield praised the operator for responding swiftly to her concerns via social media.
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Sam Facey, Govia Thameslink Railway’s Safety, Health and Security Director, said: ‘Behaviour like this is completely unacceptable and will never be tolerated. This was a horrible experience for those involved.
‘We would like to thank railway staff who intervened and the British Transport Police officers who responded so promptly. We will continue to assist the BTP with their enquiries.’
British Transport Police said: ‘Officers were called to East Croydon railway station at around 22.59pm yesterday (18 April), following reports of a fight on board a train from Luton to Three Bridges.
‘Officers attended and those involved were identified and taken off the service.
‘Enquiries are ongoing, and anyone with information is asked to contact BTP.’
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