>#Rail workers ‘manhandled boys because they are black’
>Fiona Hamilton Crime and Security Editor
>Friday December 09 2022, 12.01am GMT, The Times
>Two black brothers aged 13 and 15 were manhandled, handcuffed and one of them arrested on their way to school in an alleged racist incident involving police and railway staff.
>The older boy missed his mock GCSE exams after he was detained for two hours by British Transport Police (BTP), who intervened when his younger brother forgot his Oyster card.
>Officers claimed that the 15-year-old was carrying an offensive weapon after they found a rock in his pocket that he said was for his geography lessons.
>Video footage shows the pair surrounded by rail staff and police officers who held them against a wall and handcuffed them. The boys, who attend a nearby independent school, were wearing their uniforms.
>Their mother, Sabreena, the chief executive of a housing trust, accused BTP and Southeastern rail yesterday of a “catalogue of failings”. She said she believed her sons were mistreated because they were black.
>The pair had arrived at Shortlands station in Bromley, southeast London, on Monday morning when rail staff stopped the younger brother because he did not have his Oyster card.
>His mother said that he asked to be released and gave inaccurate details, probably because he was concerned about getting into trouble and being fined, given that he had an annual pass.
Within minutes he was arrested on suspicion of fare evasion and handcuffed by police who were near by.
>Sabreena said that her elder son went to help and “before he knew what was happening” he was held up against the wall by four rail staff. One had him by the neck, she said.
>When the younger boy was released police joked “there’s your free pass”, she said. The 15-year-old boy was detained on suspicion of assault and the weapons offence. He denies any wrongdoing and witnesses told The Times that he was passive and did not resist arrest.
>Stephané Alexandre, a British Ghanaian producer and director who filmed the incident, said: “There was no need for that level of force. There were four grown men [rail staff] around the 15-year-old. He was not resisting in any way. His younger brother was shouting for his older brother to help him.
>“Police had lifted the younger boy’s legs and decided they were going to handcuff him because he didn’t have his pass. They were two helpless young boys that could have been my son. This was a racially charged event. Young black boys should not be treated as though they’re adults.”
>Sabreena spent two hours trying to find her son and was initially told wrongly that he was not in custody at a local police station. Police then said there would be no further action.
>She said the official story changed repeatedly. At the station, staff told witnesses that her son assaulted a police officer but police claimed to her that he had attacked staff.
>The arresting officer later called her and said that the boys were stopped because they ran when they saw station staff. Sabreena said her boys did not run and she believes they might have been confused with two other black boys who fled.
>Her younger son is now afraid to leave the house and has not returned to school, while the older boy is apprehensive about authority figures.
>“You hear about these incidents, you read about it and watch it but you don’t ever think it will happen to your own children,” she said. “Why did they see them in their uniform and think it was OK to manhandle them?”
>Sabreena said that as she left the police station an officer asked if she knew about the Prince’s Trust, a charity that helps vulnerable children. Her sons were well supported, high achievers and the comment was “extremely offensive”, she added.
>A BTP spokesman said: “Two teenage boys were stopped by rail staff and one did not show a valid ticket. He was initially arrested on suspicion of fare evasion before being de-arrested at the scene and issued with a penalty fare.
>“The second male was arrested on suspicion of common assault and possession of an offensive weapon. He was taken to police custody and was released a short time later with no further action taken against him. We are aware of concerns on social media regarding this incident and will be reviewing it fully — looking at CCTV, body-worn camera footage from the involved officers and speaking with our colleagues at Southeastern. A senior officer will also be reaching out to the family.”
>Southeastern said it had reviewed CCTV and bodycam footage and was confident staff did the right thing.
>A spokesman said: “Our priority is always the safety of our customers and our staff and we have been in contact with the British Transport Police to establish exactly what happened in an incident at Shortlands station on Monday.
>“We take any allegations made against our colleagues or anyone using our services extremely seriously. We are confident that the policies and procedures we have in place to cover operations like this were followed”.
That’s it, get some negative railworker sentiment to get those dirty strikers out of public favor and back to work!
As Jack Aubrey would say any stick will do to beat a dirty dog.
If this is the best they can do it’s pretty contemptable and very transparent.
This is class war, as it always has been.
This was done by the British Transport police who get their instructions from the policing authority, not ‘rail workers’. I can’t find any information whether BTP members can or do join the RMT union, but gauging from [this](https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/btp-have-been-conducting-surveillance-on-lul-staff/) I would suspect not.
This needs to be viewed as more racism from the police forces, not from ‘railway workers’.
So it seems, when you break through the waffle, that one of the boys was travelling without a valid ticket or rail pass and then gave false details to staff trying to issue a fine?
If that’s the case, I’m not sure what the outrage is about. BTP enforce laws against fare evasion.. not a shock
WTF am I reading?
(or would be reading if it wasn’t for the paywall)
Look at this for a headline when they are on strike
7 comments
>#Rail workers ‘manhandled boys because they are black’
>Fiona Hamilton Crime and Security Editor
>Friday December 09 2022, 12.01am GMT, The Times
>Two black brothers aged 13 and 15 were manhandled, handcuffed and one of them arrested on their way to school in an alleged racist incident involving police and railway staff.
>The older boy missed his mock GCSE exams after he was detained for two hours by British Transport Police (BTP), who intervened when his younger brother forgot his Oyster card.
>Officers claimed that the 15-year-old was carrying an offensive weapon after they found a rock in his pocket that he said was for his geography lessons.
>Video footage shows the pair surrounded by rail staff and police officers who held them against a wall and handcuffed them. The boys, who attend a nearby independent school, were wearing their uniforms.
>Their mother, Sabreena, the chief executive of a housing trust, accused BTP and Southeastern rail yesterday of a “catalogue of failings”. She said she believed her sons were mistreated because they were black.
>The pair had arrived at Shortlands station in Bromley, southeast London, on Monday morning when rail staff stopped the younger brother because he did not have his Oyster card.
>His mother said that he asked to be released and gave inaccurate details, probably because he was concerned about getting into trouble and being fined, given that he had an annual pass.
Within minutes he was arrested on suspicion of fare evasion and handcuffed by police who were near by.
>Sabreena said that her elder son went to help and “before he knew what was happening” he was held up against the wall by four rail staff. One had him by the neck, she said.
>When the younger boy was released police joked “there’s your free pass”, she said. The 15-year-old boy was detained on suspicion of assault and the weapons offence. He denies any wrongdoing and witnesses told The Times that he was passive and did not resist arrest.
>Stephané Alexandre, a British Ghanaian producer and director who filmed the incident, said: “There was no need for that level of force. There were four grown men [rail staff] around the 15-year-old. He was not resisting in any way. His younger brother was shouting for his older brother to help him.
>“Police had lifted the younger boy’s legs and decided they were going to handcuff him because he didn’t have his pass. They were two helpless young boys that could have been my son. This was a racially charged event. Young black boys should not be treated as though they’re adults.”
>Sabreena spent two hours trying to find her son and was initially told wrongly that he was not in custody at a local police station. Police then said there would be no further action.
>She said the official story changed repeatedly. At the station, staff told witnesses that her son assaulted a police officer but police claimed to her that he had attacked staff.
>The arresting officer later called her and said that the boys were stopped because they ran when they saw station staff. Sabreena said her boys did not run and she believes they might have been confused with two other black boys who fled.
>Her younger son is now afraid to leave the house and has not returned to school, while the older boy is apprehensive about authority figures.
>“You hear about these incidents, you read about it and watch it but you don’t ever think it will happen to your own children,” she said. “Why did they see them in their uniform and think it was OK to manhandle them?”
>Sabreena said that as she left the police station an officer asked if she knew about the Prince’s Trust, a charity that helps vulnerable children. Her sons were well supported, high achievers and the comment was “extremely offensive”, she added.
>A BTP spokesman said: “Two teenage boys were stopped by rail staff and one did not show a valid ticket. He was initially arrested on suspicion of fare evasion before being de-arrested at the scene and issued with a penalty fare.
>“The second male was arrested on suspicion of common assault and possession of an offensive weapon. He was taken to police custody and was released a short time later with no further action taken against him. We are aware of concerns on social media regarding this incident and will be reviewing it fully — looking at CCTV, body-worn camera footage from the involved officers and speaking with our colleagues at Southeastern. A senior officer will also be reaching out to the family.”
>Southeastern said it had reviewed CCTV and bodycam footage and was confident staff did the right thing.
>A spokesman said: “Our priority is always the safety of our customers and our staff and we have been in contact with the British Transport Police to establish exactly what happened in an incident at Shortlands station on Monday.
>“We take any allegations made against our colleagues or anyone using our services extremely seriously. We are confident that the policies and procedures we have in place to cover operations like this were followed”.
That’s it, get some negative railworker sentiment to get those dirty strikers out of public favor and back to work!
As Jack Aubrey would say any stick will do to beat a dirty dog.
If this is the best they can do it’s pretty contemptable and very transparent.
This is class war, as it always has been.
This was done by the British Transport police who get their instructions from the policing authority, not ‘rail workers’. I can’t find any information whether BTP members can or do join the RMT union, but gauging from [this](https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/btp-have-been-conducting-surveillance-on-lul-staff/) I would suspect not.
This needs to be viewed as more racism from the police forces, not from ‘railway workers’.
So it seems, when you break through the waffle, that one of the boys was travelling without a valid ticket or rail pass and then gave false details to staff trying to issue a fine?
If that’s the case, I’m not sure what the outrage is about. BTP enforce laws against fare evasion.. not a shock
WTF am I reading?
(or would be reading if it wasn’t for the paywall)
Look at this for a headline when they are on strike