Police might press charges against Tube passengers who tackled a man who exposed himself in front of children on a busy train.
Three of the five passengers who helped remove the naked man have been interviewed by British Transport Police (BTP) under caution.
In August, Daily Mail exclusively revealed the disturbing video of a well dressed man who suddenly dropped his trousers and put his belt around his neck leaving his bottom and genitals on show.
The action left fellow passengers on the eastbound District line train outraged and they were quick to confront the man, who it later transpired had mental health issues.
A passenger stood up and politely and firmly told him: ‘You need to get off the train.’
But the flasher began yelling back: ‘f*** off’, repeatedly.
The commuter said in response: ‘What do you mean f*** off. You need to get off the f***ing train. Now. There are kids on here.’
A scuffle quickly broke out and the passengers tackled the man to the ground before they threw him off the train at East Ham station.
In August, disturbing video footage emerged of a well dressed man who suddenly dropped his trousers and put his belt around his neck leaving his bottom and genitals on show
Passengers then tackled the man to the floor before removing him from the train. Three passengers have since been interviewed by police under caution
The man was then detained under the Mental Health Act and, according to the BTP, was ‘sectioned in hospital where he remains two months later receiving appropriate care’.
Now, BTP could bring charges against the people involved with three out of the five passengers having already been interviewed.
The force also admitted it had not been able to identify two other individuals, nearly two months after the events of August 7.
A British Transport Police spokesperson told the Daily Mail: ‘We understand that footage of this incident was well circulated on social media, and while we understand passengers may have been alarmed by the man who was in a state of undress, the level of violence he received was unnecessary and unacceptable – and as a police force we are required to uphold the law.
‘The man in question is a vulnerable individual who was suffering significant mental health crisis at the time, and following the incident he was sectioned in hospital where he remains two months later receiving appropriate care. The law exists to protect everyone, including vulnerable members of our society, and we have a duty to investigate thoroughly.’
Earlier this year, the Daily Mail revealed London’s most dangerous tube and train stations.
More than 4,100 crimes were recorded in 2024 at King’s Cross St Pancras alone, one of the capital’s busiest terminals. This is more than any other station on TfL’s entire network.
However, when taking passenger numbers into account, the most dangerous station is Poplar on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), near Canary Wharf.
Statistics collated by the British Transport Police (BTP) and TfL show 46 crimes were committed at the stop on the self-driving line last year. This equated to a rate of 58.7 offences for every million passengers.
It was followed by Cockfosters, the northern terminus of the Piccadilly line, with 57.4 crimes per million passengers, and then King’s Cross St Pancras with 51.4.
Since Sir Sadiq Khan became Mayor in 2016, Tube crime rates have more than doubled, from nine per every million journeys to more than 21 last March. Similarly, offences have risen on the Overground, DLR and Elizabeth line, which opened in 2022.
