Driver cleared of track game assault

Teenagers are warned not to play on railway tracks

A train driver charged with assaulting a boy who was trespassing on a railway track has described his ordeal in court as "ridiculous".

Valley Lines driver Phil Sullivan, 33, carried out an emergency stop and jumped out of his cab to make a citizen's arrest on the 15-year-old, who was playing "chicken" with friends on a line near Cardiff.

Phil Sullivan: Citizen's arrest

The court was told how he grabbed the teenager "by the scruff" and put him into his cab in order to take him to the police at the next station.

But Mr Sullivan, from Whitchurch in Cardiff, was subsequently arrested and charged with assault.

On Thursday, Cardiff magistrates cleared the driver of the allegation after hearing that he acted in the interests of public safety.

Clive Williams from the Rail Users Consultative Committee for Wales said: "Passengers and staff should not have to tolerate this kind of behaviour.

"It is unsafe for anybody to be on the rail tracks.

"There needs to be a drive to teach children against trespassing on the railway lines which should be fully backed by the police." he said.

Mr Sullivan - who denied assault - said the police were a "laughing stock" for bringing the case against him.

The court heard that Mr Sullivan had been driving a commuter train when he saw three boys playing a game of dare at a level crossing near Radyr.

Obscene gestures

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court: "He pushed the gate against my chest. I was held by the throat and pushed onto barbed wire.

"He dragged me up the steps of the train through the driver's door and into a seat in the cab."

Giving evidence, Mr Sullivan said he had seen the boys playing "a dicey game" on the line.

The police made themselves a laughing stock by charging me - this case should never have come to court

Phil Sullivan, train driver

"I blew the horn but they just made obscene gestures," he told the court.

"I made an emergency stop which was frightening for me and the passengers. I went across to a boy on the side of the track. I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck."

British Transport Police questioned the boy but later released him without charge.

Speaking outside court, Mr Sullivan said: "The police made themselves a laughing stock by charging me - this case should never have come to court."