[locojoe]

FROM THE BTPOLICE FILE.
17/12/2007 16:01
TRIO JAILED FOR ENDANGERING SAFETY - HAMPSHIRE

Three youths have been jailed for their part in obstructing the railway line in Hampshire, after they threw a concrete post onto the tracks of an oncoming train.

British Transport Police Detective Sergeant Sarah White said the jailing of the trio should send a stern warning that police and the courts took such offences very seriously.

Winchester Crown Court was told that Ben Sheppard and Saul Jacobs, both 19 and from Eastleigh drove to Shawford Railway Station on April 10 this year and climbed a fence to reach the railway line at around 2210 hours.

The pair found a six foot long, reinforced concrete post, and placed it onto the running rails.

DS White said: "About 10 minutes later a passenger train was approaching Shawford Railway Station and struck the concrete post. The train was forced to stop and was taken out of service, requiring £3,234:38 worth of repairs.

"The driver of the train stated to police that he seriouslty feared the train would be derailed."

DS White said two nights later Sheppard and Jacobs returned to the station in the company of another male Kevin Reese, 19, also from Eastleigh, and placed another concrete post across the same running rails.

"The driver of the 2230 hours train from Southampton was travelling at 75mph when he saw the post and applied the emergency brakes but was unable to stop in time.

"There was a very loud bang as the item was struck and it bounced along the underside of the train. The train driver told police he feared the train was going to come off the tracks at high speed, causing potential death or serious injury to the passengers on board."

The three males were arrested by police soon after and charged with endangering safety. They were sentenced in Winchester Crown Court to 18 months each in a Young Offenders Institute.

The same three males were also today convicted of a series of arson attacks in the Hampshire Police area. They were sentenced to a further three years each for those offences.

DS White said the trio posed a grave danger to public safety.

"Acts such as this are not to be taken lightly. When policing the railway, we often encounter problems, particularly around the holidays when bored youngsters trespass and place obstructions on the track.

"Not only are those people that engage in that activity risking their own lives, by potentially being electrocuted or struck by a train, but as in this case, had the potential to derail a train potentially causing death and injury to unsuspecting members of the public."