Police have interviewed three London Underground passengers under caution after they tackled a man flashing in a train carriage. Video posted on X showed the man repeatedly shouting “f*** off” as members of the public told him to pull up his “f******” trousers.
A scuffle then erupted in which the man was tackled to the floor of the carriage. The video shows three men kicking and punching him. Five people removed the half-naked man from the District Line train in August.
The man was arrested on a platform at East Ham station in east London and later detained under the Mental Health Act.
British Transport Police (BTP) launched an investigation into his alleged assault “by a number of other passengers”. Police said the level of violence the man is alleged to have received was “unnecessary and unacceptable”.
The force is reportedly now mulling pressing charges against the three passengers, whom the Telegraph reports have been interviewed under caution.
BTP admitted it hasn’t been able to identify the two other people almost two months after the incident on August 7.
Susan Hall, leader of the Conservative group at London Assembly, called those who intervened “heroes”, adding they had been looking out for the rest of the people on the train.
A BTP spokesperson said: “We understand that footage of this incident was well circulated on social media, and while we understand passengers may have been alarmed by the man who was in a state of undress, the level of violence he received was unnecessary and unacceptable – and as a police force we are required to uphold the law.
“The man in question is a vulnerable individual who was suffering significant mental health crisis at the time, and following the incident he was sectioned in hospital where he remains two months later receiving appropriate care.
“The law exists to protect everyone, including vulnerable members of our society, and we have a duty to investigate thoroughly.”