成人快手

TROUBLE ON THE TRACKS

Some children view the railway as a playground

Inside Out gains exclusive access to join rail cops Garry Beardall and Darryl Grundy to discover how the British Transport Police are targeting crime along North West rail routes.

It is a sad fact but railway lines and stations are regularly targeted by vandals, graffiti sprayers and "train surfers" who cause havoc on lines.

Graffiti daubed on the walls lining railway tracks is a common sight and despite ongoing campaigns to deter youngsters, trespassing onto tracks still seems to hold appeal.

Add to this the recent craze of "train surfing" - riding on the outside of a moving train - and you have a recipe for disaster, disruption and an industry bill for millions of pounds.

"In the past when drivers saw a group of children alongside the railway, they might get a wave off them.

"Now they're more likely to get a brick through the window," says Inspector Mike Sutton of the British Transport Police.

North West's nightmare

The North West has more incidents of crime on the tracks than any other route in the country which is why the British Transport Police have set up a special force.

"During the day when the kids are at school, we'll have a good search around the area to try and find anything that gives us an indication to where they are getting on and off."

Darryl Grundy

Garry Beardall and Darryl Grundy are members of this force dubbed the "rail cops" and it's their job to patrol the tracks across the whole of the North West.

In the 18 months they have been working as a team, they have been involved with over 300 cases of crime on the line.

With detailed knowledge of the routes, Garry and Darryl have identified "hot-spots" - areas where rail crime often occurs.

It is at one "hot-spot" along the main Stockport line that they anticipate trouble.

Garry and Darryl uncover a den along the side of the railway where a group of youths have been lighting fires.

Night-time means playtime

They return to the nearby station at nightfall to monitor events.

They observe a group of four youngsters in the waiting room who are not behaving like normal passengers.

The children are later caught playing on the tracks and are taken to the police station to receive a safety lesson in the presence of their parents.

"I think it's really driven it home to the kids how stupid it was," insists Pam Evans, whose son Oliver was caught playing on the tracks.

Oliver faces up to his actions in a safety lesson

"It could have been a policeman on the doorstep saying 'your son is dead'."

It's a lesson that appears to have sunk in as Oliver realises the devastating consequences his playing on the track could lead to.

"It's not just the family of the people who get killed or injured, it's the people who drive the trains, the doctors and nurses and the policemen who have to tell the families."

Crime on the line

The following evening and Garry and Darryl are back patrolling the routes and this time they uncover criminal behaviour happening onboard the train.

Inside Out's hidden cameras capture dangerous and anti-social acts of violence as a young girl throws a smoke bomb into the carriage.

One of the perpetrators endangers his own safety by leaning on the carriage as the train pulls away.

The footage captured on CCTV often shocks British Transport Police

Despite attempting escape, the youths aged between 14 and 18 are reprimanded by the team.

Many in the group are already known to the police and have been previously arrested for assault, violence and carrying weapons.

The smoke bomb thrower, the youth leaning on the train, and the youth caught spitting, will all face prosecution.

Responsibility on the rails

Facing criminal proceedings is one way of dealing with perpetrators.

Anther is forcing them to take responsibility for their actions and this is what Garry and Darryl insist upon when they catch a group of children throwing stones onto the tracks.

The group had climbed down onto the tracks to gather stones which they had been throwing at each other across the tracks.

Now their task set by the rail cops is to clean up the mess they have made.

Devastating consequences

Despite getting caught in the act, all these children have had a lucky escape as Shaun Bradley can testify.

Shaun's friend, 14-year-old Dean Hassell, lost both his legs after he fell from a train he was "surfing" near Northwich.

Shaun has witnessed first hand the devastation playing on the tracks can cause

Shaun, Dean and other friends were jumping onto the outside of a slow moving freight train when Dean slipped and fell to the tracks.

Dean was rushed to Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester where he later had both legs amputated.

"I won't go near a train ever again," insists Shaun.

"It seems like it'd be fun and interesting - it just isn't."

Garry and Darryl's work on the North West train routes has doubtless prevented similar accidents and despite the anti-social behaviour the team often faced, dealing with an abusive teenager caught on the tracks doesn't compare with the horror of facing a fatality as Darryl can testify.

"You have to pick the pieces up of the child, and then go to the parent's house to give a death message.

"It's one of the hardest things to tell a parent - utterly devastating."