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Northern is asking members of the public to treat everyone working on the railway with respect as it cracks down on verbal and physical abuse. |
The train operator has highlighted a number of incidents conductors have faced while they work to ensure everyone reaches their destination safely and that they all have a valid ticket for travel. While the overwhelming majority of people who travel with Northern are polite and respectful, a very small minority has resorted to shouting, spitting and attacking members of staff in recent years. Four of the train operator’s conductors have shared their experiences in the hope it will make people think about their behaviour towards them and their colleagues. Northern said it will not tolerate verbal and physical abuse towards staff and will take action against anyone who threatens their employees’ safety. In December, Northern revealed the number of dangerous attacks on its trains had fallen by almost 90% over the previous 12 months, with the number of recorded incidents dropping from 69 to just eight. The train operator says the chance of perpetrators being caught on camera is now much higher after it added a further 600 new CCTV cameras to the more than 1,000 that monitor its station estate. It came after the operator installed 7,000 HD CCTV cameras on board its fleet of trains and invested £1.7m in the roll-out of more than 1,000 extra body-worn camera kits, taking the total number now in operation to 1,300. British Transport Police has access to all the footage and can use it in criminal prosecutions. Dozens of undercover and plain-clothed police officers and Northern's travel safety officers also regularly patrol services across the North of England. Kerry Peters, regional director for Northern, said: “We welcome millions of customers on-board our trains every year and the overwhelming majority are polite, considerate and respectful of others. "Unfortunately, given the numbers involved, our conductors do also encounter people who are somewhat less respectful of them and the safety critical role they have on-board – and that is unacceptable.” Anthony Mooney is a 36-year-old conductor based in Liverpool who has worked for Northern for two years. “I had an incident recently where I got a tirade of homophobic abuse from someone and they threatened to kill me. All because I asked him for a ticket,” he said. “You’ve got to have a thick skin in this job because you can get called every name under the sun. It can escalate from nothing when you least expect it. “It’s very difficult not to take it home. It plays on your mind and it’s hard to continue with your day. No one should have to deal with that, no matter what you have to do. “If I took everything personally, I wouldn't be able to continue working as a conductor.” Lewis Tracey is a 28-year-old conductor based in Wigan who has worked for Northern for eight years. “I had a lad spit in my face and try to punch me a few years ago. It was completely out of the blue, but that’s the sort of thing you have to put up with,” he said. “With some people you can reason with them, but with others there is no reasoning whatsoever, no matter what you do. It does get stressful, there’s no denying it. “They see the uniform and want someone to vent at, but sometimes the abuse does get really personal and they don’t realise how much it can affect that person." He added: “The body-worn cameras and CCTV do make a difference, because people think twice before they abuse someone or hit someone because they know they’re on camera." Jackie Ross is a 53-year-old conductor based in Liverpool who has worked for Northern for 16 years. “I work early shifts and I am used to getting abuse from people who have been out the night before,” she said. “You just have to try and engage with them, but it can be challenging when they’re under the influence, rude and trying to pick fights. Some people think they can do whatever they want and there are no consequences. “There was one occasion when I asked a fare evader to leave the train and he started kicking the door and then spat in my face. I’m not here to be spat at. “You do take it home with you sometimes, but you’ve just got to get back to work and crack on with it. “When there is trouble, I just tell them to calm down because there are other people on the train and remind them that we all want to get home. You have to work with them and let them see you’re not up against them.” Andrew Wade is a 59-year-old conductor based in Skipton who has worked for Northern for 12 years. “People who refuse to pay often become verbally abusive when they see you approach in a uniform. They will do anything to try and get out of paying,” he said. “Whenever someone is letting off steam, I try and defuse the situation by sitting down with them and talking to them as an equal. But there are some situations where that isn’t possible. “I have never been physically assaulted, but there have been three occasions when I have lost sleep after being threatened. It does take its toll. “I always try to process what happened and think about whether I could have handled it differently and if I could prevent it from happening again in the future. “But it’s reassuring to know that the trains are covered by CCTV and the body-worn cameras, which are very good and available for everyone to wear. I do think they act as a deterrent to anyone who is being anti-social.” People who witnesses physical or verbal attacks are encouraged to report them to British Transport Police by texting 61016 or by calling 0800 40 50 40. British Transport Police’s ‘Railway Guardian’ app is available to download from Google Play and the Apple App Store. Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England. |
A National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation has dismantled a prolific criminal network responsible for smuggling hundreds of migrants into the UK illegally.
Key members of the Teesside-based network, including its figurehead, 43-year-old Muhammad Zada, were found guilty by a jury on 11 July following a six-week trial.
Zada, from Middlesbrough, coordinated at least five conspiracies to smuggle Iraqi-Kurdish migrants into the UK from mainland Europe in 2017.
His associates were responsible for recruiting drivers and facilitating the movement of people into the country.
They were: Pareiz Abdullah, 41, Khalid Mahmud, 50, Marek Sochanic, 39, Gurprit Kahlon, 67, and Bestoon Moslih, 41.
Migrants were charged between £5,000 and £10,000 by the crime group to be hidden in vehicles, including refrigerated lorry trailers, and brought to the UK.
Migrants were charged between £5,000 and £10,000 by the crime group to be hidden in vehicles, including refrigerated lorry trailers, and brought to the UK.
The first arrest was made in March 2017, when Milan Sochanic – Marek Sochanic’s father – drove a van from the UK to Belgium on two occasions to collect and transport people.
He was stopped by French police at Calais on his second trip and eight migrants were discovered hidden in the van among furniture.
Milan Sochanic was subsequently convicted of people smuggling offences in France.
Zada had purchased the van and arranged for ‘Milan Builders’ to be painted on the side before plotting the journeys with the help of Marek Sochanic.
On another occasion, the crime group organised for migrants to be smuggled from France and the Netherlands to the UK in the back of refrigerated lorry trailers containing fruit and vegetables.
The return journey from Rotterdam was foiled by Dutch police who located 12 migrants due to be loaded into the lorry.
In the days that followed, Zada and his lieutenants arranged for migrants to be hidden inside a campervan, as well as in vans among bicycle boxes and a shipment of mattresses.
On all three occasions the journeys were intercepted by law enforcement officers – twice in France and once in Belgium.
The crime group also duped drivers to unwittingly smuggle migrants by tasking them to transport legitimate commodities between the UK to mainland Europe. People were then loaded into vehicles without the driver’s knowledge.
Zada is believed to have successfully brought hundreds of migrants into the UK illegally prior to these attempts.
Footage captured by NCA officers shows Zada examining the campervan hired by his co-conspirator Gurprit Kahlon to transport the migrants from France.
Zada and other leading members of the smuggling network were arrested in a major strike across north east England coordinated by the NCA in February 2018.
The operation comprised around 350 officers from the NCA and its partners, including the North East Regional Organised Crime Unit and regional police forces.
Following a trial at Newcastle Crown Court, Mohammed Zada was found guilty of five counts of conspiring to facilitate breaches of immigration law.
Marek Sochanic, Khaled Mahmud and Pareiz Abdullah were found guilty on one count of the same charge.
Gurprit Kahlon and Bestoon Moslih both pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to facilitate breaches of immigration law at earlier court hearings.
Zada and Sochanic were convicted in their absence having absconded before the trial began. Work to locate the pair and bring them into custody is ongoing.
All six men will be sentenced on 20 September.
Martin Clarke, NCA Branch Commander, said: “Our extensive investigation has seen us uncover and dismantle a major people smuggling network with ambitions of bringing hundreds, if not thousands, of people into the UK illegally.
“This result is testament to the successful partnership working of the NCA, law enforcement agencies on the continent and UK regional police forces.
“Zada and his organised crime group didn’t care about safety and wellbeing of the human beings they were trafficking. They were willing to put them in dangerous environments like refrigerated lorries, all for a quick payday.
“We continue to work tirelessly alongside key international partners to disrupt the criminal networks treating people as commodities and putting lives at risk.
“Tackling this crime type is a top priority for us – the NCA alone has more than 70 ongoing investigations into networks or individuals in the top tier of organised immigration crime or human trafficking.”
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