You may have seen the video going viral last week of a group of passengers on the London Underground attacking a man who had dropped his trousers in a packed tube carriage, exposing himself in front of children and commuters.
The man, who clearly suffered from some kind of mental health issue, is seen standing in the carriage on the Hammersmith & City Line with his d*ck out, and is confronted by passengers who ask him to cover up.
The man responds by yelling at them to “f*** off”, which prompts around four men to start beating him up, eventually lobbing him off the train and apprehending him until police arrived.
The man has since been detained under the Mental Health Act, and there’s some debate over whether the men should face arrest over the assault.
Thus far, no arrests have been made, but detectives are appealing for witnesses to come forward.
We can’t post the video on the site but it’s easy enough to find on X and elsewhere.
British Transport Police said:
“Officers were called to reports of a man exposing himself on the District Line at East Ham Underground station.
“The man had been assaulted by a number of other passengers and was initially arrested by an off duty officer, before being detained under the mental health act and taken to hospital.
“An investigation into the incident is ongoing.”
It’s an interesting one really. I mean, aside from being naked around kids and refusing to cover up, the man was also screaming and shouting at people and was potentially a violent threat. On the other hand, he was clearly having some kind of mental health episode, and you’ve got to determine whether the level of physicality used by the men was proportionate to the perceived threat.
Having seen the video, it does appear that punches and kicks were only thrown for as long as the man was standing, and that once he was on the floor he was simply restrained until police got there.
Obviously the police have to investigate to confirm whether any crimes were committed while the men bundled him off the train, and establish all the facts and whatnot. Technically, until all that is sorted, they ‘could’ face arrest. I would be very surprised if any of them are, though. Then again, this is the UK, and anything can happen. We’ll have to wait and see…
For the London Underground driver who was sacked after being filmed knitting and watching YouTube videos at the wheel, click HERE.
