A drunk man who challenged a foreign passenger for drinking beer on a train told him "abide by English laws or get out" in an astonishing rant.
The suited man, who appears to be in his 30s, admitted he had been drinking before boarding the train as he rowed with a passenger, who describes himself as a "Polish boy from Russia", sat next to him on a late-night service from London Liverpool Street to Romford last Thursday.
Extraordinary video, which was filmed by a witness, shows the man confronted the foreign national, who was filmed drinking from a beer bottle in full view of stunned travellers as a TfL Rail train stopped at Maryland.
In the footage, the man tells him that drinking alcohol is forbidden on the train and says the rules are displayed in the carriage.
Transport for London banned passengers from drinking from and carrying open containers of alcohol from its public transport services in June 2008 under then Mayor Boris Johnson.
In the video, he says: "You’re in Britain – you listen to the rules, you abide by the rules or you get out."
The offended passenger repeatedly tells him to "shut up" and suggests continuing their conversation off the train, which the man ignores.
The man continues: "I know you don’t understand, but I’ll explain to you so you can understand.
"You see those rules up there, the ones that say you don’t drink alcohol."
At this point, the passenger interrupts him and says: "I’m not the only one. You are yourself drunk, you idiot," as he challenges him to confront other people allegedly drinking on the train.
The man admits he was drinking before he got on the train.
The exasperated passenger then suggests the man calls the police if he wants to further his complaint, to which the man says: "I was born a bred here, you’ve come into this country. You abide by these rules.
"Abide by English laws or get out."
A woman, sat opposite the foreign passenger, then intervenes in the argument as she tells the passenger he shouldn’t be drinking beer and the man that she is moving seats because of his "disgusting" behaviour.
She tells him: "Yes, you should not be drinking beer, but you have no right to talk to somebody like that. And to use their nationality against them is wrong."
The man tries to defend his actions by telling her: "I was just trying to explain the laws of this country."
But she replies: "No, no, no, you are using his race against him and it is disgusting, and because of your behaviour I don’t want to sit here."
As she leaves the carriage, she adds: "People like you should be ashamed of themselves."
Her intervention appears to have diffused the row, but the pair restart their argument when the passenger tells the woman "thank you very much".
But the man counters: "And she also said you shouldn’t be drinking, so I think we both win there."
The passenger responds by taking another swig and turning his back to look out the window.
Shocked passengers said they were pleased the woman stood up to the man as other travellers kept quiet during the row.
The witness who filmed the tirade told Metro : "I’m glad there are people like this lady who aren’t afraid to stand up to bullies.
"No one else on the train voiced their opinion – only she did and she was half their size."
The incident reportedly took place on a train from London Liverpool Street to Romford at 11.15pm last Thursday on a TfL Rail service.
Transport for London declined to comment when approached by Mirror Online.
Source: Read Full Article
