A video showing a drunk man threatening a woman on a busy Central Line train has sparked a debate online with people questioning the length of time it took for passengers to step in.
Watch the video below:
The video was shared by the Twitter account London & UK crime and shows a man standing in the carriage shouting at a woman who is standing by the doors on the other side of the handrail.
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It is unclear what led to the situation in the video or what the man was shouting over the sound of the train. Before charging over to the woman, he can be heard saying: “I’ll f*cking knock you out you c*nt. Shut the f*ck.”
He then storms over to her and backs her in a corner by the doors as several male passengers stand up from their seats to intervene.
After it was shared across social media, the video has led to a variety of reactions. The majority of people condemned the man’s actions and some also called out the other men on the train for not stepping in sooner.
“Any decent guy would have stepped in and told him to calm it before he got near her,” one Twitter user wrote. “Verbal abuse is still abuse! But they waited until it veered towards physical before anyone thought to do anything... Then folk are praising them for doing the very least that should be expected.”
One woman said: “It’s good they stepped in but someone should’ve stopped it before it escalated to him being in her face.”
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Another woman replied to the video: “Why didn’t they say anything when he was verbally aggressive to her !?”
A man responded to the tweets questioning why the men on the train didn’t step in when the man swore at the woman passenger. “Because if you step in earlier you would be the one seen as causing the problem and starting the assault,” he explained. “They stepped in at the right time in my option and the only person who was hurt hopefully was the abusive gentleman.”
Similarly, another man said: "Those men intervened at the right moment and if you say otherwise you're ignorant to the level of risk involved in an altercation between grown men. We are fully capable of killing each other with our bare hands so confrontations are really last resort.
The British Transport Police confirmed to Tyla that they are investigating the incident in the video. A spokesperson said: "‘British Transport Police (BTP) is aware of a video circulating on social media showing an incident on-board a Central Line Tube service.
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"Enquiries are ongoing, and no arrests have been made in connection.
"Witnesses or anyone with information are urged to contact BTP by texting 61016 or by calling 0800 40 50 50 quoting reference 681 of 16/10/21."
Siwan Hayward, Director of Compliance, Policing, Operations and Security at TfL, said: “We were shocked by this horrible incident on the Central line and our thoughts are with the woman who was abused in this appalling way.
"We condemn all forms of violence and abuse on our network and are working closely with police to keep our customers and staff safe.
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"The British Transport Police is aware of the incident and has issued an appeal for information. We will provide full support to the BTP’s investigation.”
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