Media centre

Wednesday 3 Sep 2014

Teenage trespassers learn railway safety lesson

Region & Route:

| Wales & Western: Western

| Wales & Western

Two 17 year old boys from Swindon have promised that they will never trespass on the railway again after taking part in a restorative justice programme led by British Transport Police (BTP) and Network Rail.

BTP caught the teenagers trespassing and spraying graffiti on the railway near to Swindon station in July. After engaging in the restorative justice programme, the teenager caught spraying the graffiti was ordered to pay Network Rail £400 for the damage caused, and both boys were ordered to give up a day to work for the company.

The teenagers started this day, on Monday 18 August, by receiving a rail safety and awareness talk from Emma Bartlett, Network Rail’s community safety manager, who explained the danger they had placed themselves in by trespassing. Accompanied by Emma and PCSO Jonathan Gale from BTP, the boys then spent the rest of the day at Elcombe bridge in Swindon, cleaning the underpass and painting it with anti-graffiti paint.

One of the teenagers said: “I feel embarrassed and stupid for what I did. Had I known more about the danger I was placing myself in and the consequences of my actions, I would not have trespassed in the first place.”

Emma Bartlett, Network Rail’s community safety manager, said: “This is a good example of how the restorative justice scheme can make a difference. By enabling us to engage with these teenagers, we were able to explain to them the dangers of trespassing and get them to experience first-hand how much effort is required to clean up graffiti. Both boys have now promised never to trespass again.”

PCSO Jonathan Gale, of British Transport Police, said: “The restorative justice day was very productive from my perspective. I was able to interact with the two youths as they painted the bridge and talk to them about the dangers of trespassing on the railway, and the knock on effect it has, including disrupting train services.

“Both youths said how embarrassed they now feel having had the potential consequences of their actions explained to them. They also said that they would never do this again and would instead focus on their college education and future careers.”