LETTERS
Officer's arrest
Sir: I read Joanna Coles's article on the 'Little Hitlers of the permanent way' (11 January), with peculiar interest. Some two years ago, I endured the aggressive atten- tion of two BR revenue protection officers on a Portsmouth line train, who accused me of altering the date on a hand-written ticket docket (the BR person issuing the docket had merely written the wrong date on it, and altered it himself).
Despite protestations of my innocence in a crowded carriage, the two revenue pro- tection officers then attempted to arrest me and contain me in the guard's van. Refus- ing to give my name and address, I informed the two inspectors that I would alight from the train with them in order to attempt to prove a legal point by bringing an action against BR for assault, unlawful imprisonment and unlawful arrest. This I subsequently did, having spent the remain- der of the journey 'under arrest' in the guard's van.
I started a legal action against British Rail, and with the publicity gained via broadcasting on the BBC Radio 4 'Punters' consumer programme, and also on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, I gained a favourable out of court settlement by way of compensation from British Rail.
During the course of making the pro- gramme, I discovered that the law remains unclear as to who has power of arrest on the railways. However, case law suggests that only 'a Constable or an Officer of the railway' enjoys power of arrest, and that it is unlikely that either a ticket inspector, guard or revenue inspector could be termed an officer of the railway.
1V.J.F.B. Samengo-Turner
Coltsfoot Cottage, Wickhambook, Newmarket, Suffolk
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