VIOLENT PASSENGER AVOIDS JAIL

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: october 2019 :: RMTnews 13 A rail passenger who punched a Virgin Trains worker in the face after she asked him to show her his ticket has avoided a custodial sentence. The shocking, unprovoked attack by Darren Corr, which took place at 11am on July 19, was caught on CCTV at Piccadilly Station. Following a British Transport Police appeal, Corr, of Cheadle Hulme, was arrested. Manchester Magistrates Court heard after getting off a train with his three-year-old daughter the assailant approached the ticket guard on platform five and asked to be let through the barrier. She asked to see his ticket, he told her his wife had it then lifted his daughter over the barrier, banging her head in the process. Corr was then heard to say ‘What have you f****** done?’ before punching the victim full in the face ‘with a clenched fist’. Alan Bakker, prosecuting, described the attack as ‘totally unprovoked’ which had left the guard ‘dazed’ and suffering from swelling and bruising to her cheekbone. Paul Green, defending, claimed that Corr had difficulty ‘managing his emotions’. The court heard that he also had nine previous convictions for 14 offences including a conviction for criminal damage after smashing up a pub when he became ‘enraged at a VAR decision in a football match’. Corr pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced to 200 hours community service and ordered to pay £100 compensation with £175 costs. RMT’s National Health and Safety Conference will be held at The Earl of Doncaster Hotel on Wednesday February 26 2020. The theme of conference will be the challenges of violence in the workplace. As part of the conference programme all delegates will be allocated a place on the RMT’s new training course which will be offered either the day before conference or the day after. The training course will take place at the National Education Centre at 47-51 Thorne Road, Doncaster, DN1 2EX. Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis. Branches and regional councils are invited to nominate members to attend conference who are, where possible, accredited Health and Safety Representatives. Nomination forms should be returned to Head Office by the closing date of Friday December 13 2019. Branches and regional councils are also invited to submit motions relevant to health and safety within the transport industry as a whole by the closing date of Friday December 13 2019. B C a R S a o 2 VIOLENT PASSENGER AVOIDS JAIL HEALTH AND SAFETY CONFERENCE