If I recall correctly, the article I read yesterday indicated it happened during the meal service...and that passengers were allowed to take masks off during the meal. Passengers were quoted as being shocked by the treatment. It did sound rather heavy handed and OTT.
Pasta, like a lot of these stories, we don't really know what went on. He seemed to be sitting in a non-restaurant seat when the video was taken. Many English buses and trains carry warnings about abusive behaviour from the public, and it might have been that he was abusive and non co-operative. We just don't know. I am sure that trains don't make unscheduled stops without good reason. And the police in France don't go alone into potentially dangerous situations. I'm surprised that the UK media didn't make more fuss about the flics being armed. All the French cops I have seen - gendarmes or town bobbies - wear guns on their hip, so that wouldn't have been surprising.
Also, if the cops weren't heavy-handed and something bad had happened they would have been castigated for being soft on terrorists or trouble-makers. They can't really win.
>>> He seemed to be sitting in a non-restaurant seat when the video was taken
Eurostar trains don't have restaurant cars. Meal service is to normal seating within Standard Premier and Business Premier.
"COC stops" (i.e. additional stops to remove passengers failing to conform with the operators' conditions of carriage) aren't actually that uncommon on the railways. (Well, they weren't when I ran a railway station anyway although, in order to keep trains running on time, controllers obviously like to keep them to a minimum). Police assistance is also called on quite often for such stops.
Buen; Eurostar trains have a coach with a bar which sells sandwiches, drinks, crisps etc. The first class would serve meals at your seat.
Perhaps he was sitting in a first class seat, but it didn't look like that to me. Ah well, we don't know.
Douglas; thank Douglas we don't have mobs! No football crowds, no statue fellers, no ........... :-)
I'm wondering what sort of standards have they set for masks that can or cannot be worn?...when here even a scarf pulled over the mouth and nose can be acceptable.
I think the mask issue is … a mask. He sounds like one who thinks the rules don’t apply to him. If he caused trouble and was thrown off, tough! He’ll no doubt behave himself next time.
pasta...20:22
I suspect that there might be more to this than the type of mask. If he was approached and questioned about not masking and became abusive, then things might have become a bit tense and escalated. We don't know.
Fortunately, we don't have French-haters mobbing this post.
I think that I have been a bit of a hypocrite posting this story as, when I look into my heart, I was probably hoping to flush out the little Englanders and xenophobes or Francophobes.
Shame on me.
"believed to be from Liverpool" says it all. But if they were on their way home why would they chuck him off the train and keep him in France longer than necessary.
As per usual with things reported in the newspapers, we have no idea what actually happened, and are left to fill in all the blanks with our imagination.
It's not about masks. Eurostar carries many tho9usands of passengers a year - and suddenly the police are policing masks? I don't think so. The man was causing a nuisance.
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