British Transport Police detectives investigating violent disorder on a train from Blackpool North to Manchester Airport in May have released images of four men they believe may have information that can help them with their enquiries.
The disorder happened on Saturday, 11th May at around 9.45 pm on a train that had stopped at Preston station in Lancashire.
While the train was at the platform, a mass brawl erupted on the train, with passengers punching, swearing, and threatening each other. Several people suffered bleeding from their injuries.
The brawl was witnessed by a number of young children on the train, and they were visibly distressed by what they saw.
British Transport Police officers believe the men in these images may have information that could help their investigation. They would like to speak to them or anyone else who has any information that could help in their enquiries.
Anyone who recognises any of the men in the images, or has any information about the incident, are asked to contact can contact British Transport Police by text to 61016 or by calling 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference 807 of 11 May.
Alternatively, anyone with information can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
This is just one of several appeals made this month, after a man was attacked with a golf club at a station in Essex, and a man was left with life-threatening injuries after being attacked at a station in North London.
Responses
We are often exhorted to practice “see it, say it, sort it” by British Transport Police. Given that BTP cannot be everywhere and considering that Preston is a main station that contains the area BTP office , you would think that they might have been around when this happened?.
I have long argumed that there ought to be travelling plain clothes BTP officers, who travel on certain trains at certain times of day.
Unfortunately, Incidents of this type are not uncommon at Preston.
Earlier in the year, I was at Florence, Italy. They have a proper police presence there and one could imagine that they have the capability to deal with most incidents, certainly a brawl of this kind.