Five people have been found guilty and fined for disorderly conduct on the Metro system.
Mustafa Karwan of Roker Avenue, Sunderland, was found guilty of disorderly conduct on Metro premises, at Newcastle Central Metro Station on 25 June 2014 and was fined £400 and ordered to pay £90 costs. The defendant had entered an area not open to the public and urinated.
Kieran Newton of Dene Close, Ovingham, was also fined £500 and ordered to pay £90 costs for disorderly behaviour. On 10 May 2014, Newton was seen running down an escalator in the wrong direction whilst passengers were travelling up. When stopped, he could not produce a valid ticket for the journey and became verbally abusive to a member of staff.
Other prosecutions include:
- Darren Lockyear of Laygate, South Shields, was fined £500 and ordered to pay £90 costs after producing an invalid ticket for his journey and being verbally abusive to staff.
- Rochelle Rutherford of Beech Road, South Shields, was fined £110 and ordered to pay £90 costs for smoking on the platform at Monument Metro Station.
- Douglas Richardson of Woodbine Street, Bensham, was fined £110 and ordered to pay £90 costs after being found drunk and in possession of alcohol on the concourse at Central Station Metro.
All of the following cases were heard at North Tyneside Magistrates Court on 10 September, 2014.
Sharon Kelly, Director of Customer Services and Operations at DB Regio Tyne and Wear, which operates the Metro on behalf of Nexus, said: “We take the safety of our passengers and staff very seriously and want passengers to understand the impact that acting in a disorderly and abusive manner can have.
“As well as being dangerous, it can really have a negative impact on the journey of our other passengers. We would rather not prosecute and fine people, but these types of incidents are serious. It’s therefore important people understand that we will prosecute them if they act in an aggressive and disorderly manner while using our service.”