Articles | Thugs throw woman on to tracks

Thugs throw woman on to tracks

Published: Wednesday, 6 August 2008, 7:28PM

Two thugs threw a commuter on to rail tracks after she told them to stop smoking.

Linda Buchanan, 58, was left with a broken wrist and bruises after the rush hour attack at Farningham Road station, Kent.

She landed inches from a 750-volt live wire and said she was "lucky to be alive".

Ms Buchanan had asked the youths to stop smoking on the station platform, where smoking is banned, earlier this week.

A scuffle started when they confronted her on Wednesday morning and she was thrown onto the track before being pulled off by fellow passengers.

Ms Buchanan said: "I feel lucky to be alive because it could have been a lot worse than it is."

Detective Inspector Bob Richardson of the British Transport Police said: "It would appear the woman had spoken to the men about smoking earlier this week.

"This morning when she was at the station, she was walking past the same men when one of them pushed her and she fell onto the track.

"She suffered a fractured wrist and bruising to her legs. She was taken to hospital for treatment but has since been released.

"The woman was very lucky she was not more seriously injured. The third rail carries 750 volts of electricity and she could have been electrocuted or even struck by an early morning train."

Southeastern train services between Kent and London were disrupted because the live rail had to be turned off.

Police are looking into a number of leads and viewing CCTV footage from the station.

One of the men was described as white, stocky, in his mid-20s, about 6ft tall, with short brown hair, wearing beige shorts, a green round-necked T-shirt and trainers.

The second man was white, in his early 20s, of medium build, wearing bright red shorts and a dark top.

Anyone with information is asked to call British Transport Police on 0800 40 50 40 quoting log 83 of 6/8.