A TRAIN passenger who threatened a wheelchair-bound man and his brother has been fined £300.
Alan Moore, 53, pleaded guilty to intentionally causing harrassment, alarm or distress by using threatening behaviour when he appeared at West Chester Magistrates Court.
The court heard Moore, of The Grove, Stockport, had been travelling on a train from Holyhead to Chester on Monday, October 10, last year when the incident took place near Chester Railway Station.
Alison Warburton, prosecuting, said one of the victims was a man who suffered from cerebral palsy and depended on a wheelchair to get around.
They had been sitting opposite and next to the defendant when Moore, who was drinking a can of cider, dropped a newspaper he had been reading onto the floor.
Moore then began to shout abuse at the two men, saying the newspaper was “his” and warning them they had better not be getting on the same train as him in Chester, while using profanities.
“The men said they felt threatened,” said Ms Warburton. “This abuse continued but another passenger managed to eventually calm him down. But later he was heard to be on the phone saying: ‘Could you get the guys to come down to Chester’. Once again the victims felt threatened. They informed railway police once they arrived in Chester. He had to be warned on three more occasions because he kept shouting abuse.”
Moore was arrested and taken to Blacon custody suite where he told officers he had been drinking and could not remember the incident.
Steve Coup, defending, said Moore had been travelling from Ireland where he had attended a friend’s funeral. “He had quite a bit to drink at the wake,” he said. “He continued to drink on the four-hour long journey. If he had not been by himself he might not have drunk so much. He also had high blood pressure.
“He thinks these two reasons made him act out of character.”
Mr Coupe added: “He fully accepts what has been said against him.”
Moore was fined £100 and ordered to pay £100 compensation, £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.