Two men who risked their lives by train surfing on the Docklands Light Railway in London have been sentenced.
Ricky Brewer, 20, and Owen Kelly, 18, were both sentenced at North London Magistrates’ Court on Monday 20 January.
The two were caught thanks to Kelly trying to sell the GoPro footage to a paper for £600.
Kelly bragged to a journalist, calling it a “death-defying stunt” and boasting about how they hid from police afterwards.
The train surfing video taken by Kelly showed both men climbing on top of a train, then running along carriages and jumping between gaps as it travelled between West Silvertown and Pontoon Dock stations.
The offence happened at around 4 pm on Tuesday 12 February 2018.
Brewer, of Belle Vue Road in Hampshire, and Kelly, of Selborne Avenue in London, pleaded guilty to endangering the safety of a person on the railway.
They were both given 130 hours of unpaid work and each fined more than £120.
What did the officials say?
PS Alan Bowell, of British Transport Police, said:
“It’s abundantly clear Kelly and Brewer were wilfully naïve to the extreme danger they put themselves in.
“They were thoughtless to the impact it would have on their loved ones if they died or suffered a life-changing injury. A single slip and that could’ve easily been the result.
“Their actions also drew in police officers who could’ve been better deployed elsewhere – not to an incident where two people wilfully put themselves at risk for a quick profit and a bungled shot at fame.
“It was thoughtless, incredibly dangerous and frankly juvenile. I’d like to credit the officer for the skill and dedication it took to bring these two to trial.”
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Responses
There used to be idiots who were train surfing on Southern, Southeastern and South Western Railway trains. But why do it. Its dangerous, stupid and not only causes fatalities but puts people’s commuting in such misery.