A passenger squirted a rail worker in the face with an unknown chemical substance which made him lose vision in a "horrific attack”.

The victim was working at Blackfriars station when a group of men who travelled to London by train to Sevenoaks, Kent, barged through the ticket barriers.

One of the group was stopped by a member of staff while the others ran away. He quickly “became abusive” to the workers.

The three other people returned to the barriers. One of them whipped out a Lucozade Sport bottle from his jacket and sprayed a clear liquid onto his face. They then fled the scene.
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The victim immediately felt pain in his eyes and couldn’t see. He was rushed to hospital where he has been treated for chemical burns and has undergone eye surgery for “long-term injuries”.

Detective constable at the British Transport Police Victoria Callaghan said: “This was a horrific attack that has left the victim requiring eye surgery for his long-term injuries.

“An investigation into the serious assault was launched immediately and we have been exploring all lines of enquiry over several months.”

Detectives have just released CCTV images after the attack at around 6pm on Saturday, May 17 to help track down the perpetrator.

DC Callaghan said: “We have recently obtained clearer CCTV footage of a man we believe can assist our investigation.

“If you know who he is, please contact us by texting 61016 or calling 0800 40 50 40, quoting reference 529 of 17 May 2025.”

The level of fare dodging in London has increased – with more than one in 20 Tube passengers failing to pay for their journeys.

Information can also be passed to Crimestoppers anonymously by calling 0800 555 111.

by OneNormalBloke

36 comments

  2. That poor rail worker was just trying to do his job, and to be assaulted with a chemical substance is beyond unacceptable. I really hope he recovers fully and that the people involved face serious consequences. No one deserves this level of violence simply for enforcing basic rules.

  3. Precisely why we shouldn’t expect station staff to stop people who barge through the barriers, what horrible cunts

  4. I cannot imagine the fear and pain that worker must have felt in those moments. The fact that the attackers planned enough to carry a bottle with a harmful substance makes it even more concerning.

  5. > One of them whipped out a Lucozade Sport bottle from his jacket and sprayed a clear liquid onto his face.

    Do these ‘orrible little shits carry that around all the time, or would then have been on a raid to target someone?

    I very rarely wish ill on people, but the thought of him & his chums getting thirsty and drinking from the wrong bottle brings a little smirk to my face.

  6. That’s horrid.
    What’s worse is if they’re releasing images now and it happened in May they’re out of leads.

    I hope someone comes forward.

    Does make me angry how the police can’t seem to trace such a serious offender via all the cctv we have…

  7. Such a pity the poor man didn’t have time to react and turn away. We do have new-ish laws for carrying acid and acid attacks. It’s regarded as an especially dangerous weapon. You’re looking at 4 years for carrying it, 5+ years for attacking someone with it, and 12+ years if the injuries are especially severe. I hope they will find the scumbag using CCTV

  8. Horror aside, every time I’m at a certain busy tube station I witness people barging through the barriers and it’s extremely common. But now I can see why when station staff clearly witness it they do absolutely nothing.

  9. I want all the people who moan about staff “not doing anything” about fare dodgers at the barrier to take note. This is why.

  10. Sometimes, I really wish that retributive justice aka ‘eye for an eye’ is still a thing.

  11. CCTV everywhere and it takes 7 months to release an image

  12. How have people like that come to be?

    The world could be such a nice place, if only I had the infinity gauntlet to click away certain people

  13. It happened in May?

    So how come there’s coverage of it only now?

    But it does give a reason why TfL staff generally don’t challenge even the most blatant fare-dodging barrier bargers

  15. What a disgusting scumbag.

    Anyone doing this shit needs a 15 year min sentence

  16. Violent crime getting out of control, now targeting regular people.

    We need harsh sentencing and policing.

    As you can see they start with something as simple as evading ticket fares and degenerates

    If they had liquid in nalucizade bottle it means they were planning to use it against someone else.

    A person like that should never leave jail

  17. >a group of men who travelled to London by train to Sevenoaks, Kent, barged through the ticket barriers.

    Criminal chavs

  18. It’s not safe to do your job anyone. If someone is dodging the fare just let em no job is worth this.
    This needs to be sorted by the government. Need actual guards stationed at the barriers if they want this shit to stop

  19. Acid attacks should have much harsher penalties. 10 year min sentence and £1m fine, imo.

  21. Carrying around a chemical in a squirt bottle like that is truly unhinged behaviour. These are not normal people.

  22. It seems worse than ever at the moment. My friend doesn’t wear his uniform to work anymore due to being punched unprovoked while waiting for a train

  23. Chemical attack in Blackfriars station and they haven’t caught him in almost 8 months???

  27. That’s a good picture, hopefully he will get caught

  28. Horrible that this happened

    I wonder how you don’t catch the guy instantly? You have cameras in the station, how hard could it be to identify them?

    The attack was May 17th ffs

  29. That’s a pretty clear and identifiable picture!! Surely someone in Sevenoaks knows who this is?

  30. Whys it taken so long to find clear cctv footage in a city that’s riddled with cameras?

  31. And this is why I never get into confrontations with strangers. I don’t care how young and weak they look (actually, younger and weaker men are more likely to pull off this type of cowardly shit).

    I’ll gladly be a pussy and walk away, healthy and safe, to my family.

  32. I’m sure Nigel Farage will be bussing in a mob or two about this white bloke from Kent assaulting members of the public…

  33. God that poor man. I hope they find this bastard quickly. He should go to jail for the full 12 years

  34. “Why don’t staff stop fare dodgers from barging through?”

    This, precisely this is why. We want to go home in the same state we left it and not risk our lives for a ticket worth a few quid.

  35. The article’s wording doesn’t make it abundantly clear where the perpetrators were travelling to/from. Presumably they travelled from Sevenoaks to London? “The victim was working at Blackfriars station when a group of men who travelled to London by train to Sevenoaks, Kent, barged through the ticket barriers.”

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