Sam Main Fights Alan Pollock In The Game Of Sympathies
SAM Main versus Alan Pollock is the dinner party chat of the day. Sam Main is the student who was forcibly thrown off a Scotsrail train for having the wrong ticket. Alan Pollock is the man who did the throwing.
The Dail Mail headline tells its readers:
Hounding of a first-class hero: The banker who threw a foul-mouthed student off a train could end up in court
Yeah. Alan Pollock is banker. In this Game of Sympathies, that might be a game changer.
The Mail’s Andrew Malone set a scene like Alan Pollock’s defence brief addressing the jury:
Relaxing on the train after a 12-hour day at the office, all Alan Pollock wanted — along with his fellow commuters — was for the journey to pass peacefully and painlessly.
In the Game of Sympathies, Malone has picked up a the Sympathetic Back Story card.
While his young children would be in bed by the time he got home, Mr Pollock was looking forward to a glass of wine with his wife as he headed back from his job at an investment bank in Edinburgh.
That’s the Family Card being played.
But his evening was about to take a dramatic turn as the train’s white-haired ticket inspector roused one young man from apparent slumber in the carriage.
That would be the brusque white-haired ticket inspector? And get a load of that “apparent” slumber. The young man is Sam Main. He has no wife and kids. Although chances are he wanted the journey to pass peacefully and painlessly.
Bleary-eyed and fumbling in his pocket, the youth could only produce the ticket for his outbound trip to Edinburgh earlier that day. He apparently had no return ticket for the trip home.
The youth. Not “the passenger”. Not the hard-working student with diabetes. The youth.
The Daily Express reports on what Sam Main’s father Lenny had to say:
“This big guy has basically thrown him head first on to the platform. Sam landed on his face and has a big graze. He’s tried to get back in the carriage to get his bag. He’s diabetic and all his things were in that bag – his medication, his university notes, his money, his mobile phone and his iPod. But he’s been thrown off again. This man has to be charged and have his day in court. He had no right to do what he did.”
Andrew ‘Sam’ Malone, who does not mention young Main’s bag, sees the video of what occurred next:
Amid a volley of foul-mouthed abuse directed by the young passenger at the elderly ticket inspector, the train is delayed at a station with its doors open, for several minutes.
Well, at least Sam Main is not ageist. And was it really a volley of abuse? And let us know if you hear the elderly ticket inspector say “please”.
Other passengers mutter and fume as the young man in a knitted hat — later identified as 19-year-old student Sam Main — fails to produce a valid ticket.
Knitted hats are the knew hoods.
Main, who had been out drinking after finishing an exam, is heard cursing as he insists he’s paid the correct money, and will not get off.
Main did not wait until he got home for a glass of wine. He had one with his friends after a hard-day’s studying.
As other passengers watch, including a mother with a group of young children, the student is heard repeating to the inspector that he has shown him his ‘f****** ticket’ and again refuses to get off.
Again the Family Card is played. Because the Game of Sympathies rules it says all families are good.
In a loud voice, the inspector then warns the student that other passengers will not be happy unless he pays or gets off the train, allowing the journey to continue.
Why did he do it in a loud voice? Was it in an effort to reach an understanding with Sam Main? Ir was he trying to draw others in to his team, to form, for want of better phrase, a mob with a mob mentality?
The guard repeats: ‘I’ll sit here all night, pal. I’m getting paid for this but they (the passengers) will start moaning. You’re off now. Other folk will start (to get unhappy). Why should they pay and you not?’
As we’ve said before, this might be Sam Main’s cue to say, “Because they’ve been beaten to a pulp by the system that bleeds them dry”.
Clearly angry, Main retorts: ‘But I have paid — I will sit here all night.’
It’s a stand off. The guard could just let the train pull away and see if Main will pay for the fare with an onboard ticket machine. He could make him pay at the destination, so allowing all the passengers to leave on time. But he doesn’t.
Sitting further down the carriage, Alan Pollock, 35, has listened to every word. As the minutes tick by, and the train remains stationary, he decides he’s had enough. On film, Pollock, more than 6ft tall and heavy set, can be seen approaching the inspector and asking: ‘Right? Off now?’
A one-man mob has answered the call.
The inspector says ‘yes’ and Mr Pollock moves in, pulling the student to his feet by his jacket and shouting: ‘Off!’
Assault?
The banker — wearing a rugby top and casual jacket having changed at work — is then seen pushing the student out the train door.
Criminal assault?
Main falls to the ground and is then blocked by Mr Pollock from getting back on.
Who’s the thug?
As the train pulls away, a few passengers clap and cheer Mr Pollock and one passenger shouts: ‘Cheers, Big Man.’
One passenger is happy. One is on the platform nursing his wounds.
Malone then picks his team:
One comment posted on the internet was typical of many people’s response: ‘If nothing had been done, the children witnessing the incident would simply have seen that people who have no respect for authority or the rules of society have nothing to fear and can do what they want.’
Instead they noted that brute force works. Violence is the answer.
Another added: ‘People supporting him (Main) are probably those Guardian-reading, iPhone-sporting liberals who are responsible for murderers getting five years in a cushy hotel.’
Sam Main is not a murderer. But that’s a fair point about i-Phone users. Experts say the camera phone used to record the incident was most likely a Nokia 3210, the kind of phone used by a man who would shun the Guardian for kindling and tuck his vest into his Y-fronts.
Anyhow, it turns out that British Transport Police are investigating. Pollock might be prosecuted. Yep, just as Emma West was prosecuted for being a thug on public transport, allegedly. Also, the ticket inspector has been put on annual leave while the matter is investigated.
Malone has spoken with Alan Pollock’s wife Avril:
“Alan’s a very private person. He doesn’t want to make any comment. He doesn’t want to get involved in any row.”
Oh slap me around the chops with an irony stick.
“He just doesn’t want the attention. He doesn’t want to say anything at all.”
The man called Big Man by his fans is letting his wife talk for him.
James Pollock, Big Man’s father, adds:
“I have told Alan he did the right thing. Do you turn your face the other way when something has happened, if somebody gets stabbed in the street?”
Only, Sam Main did not stab anyone. Pollock wasn’t corageous. He picked a fight he could easily win. That is not courage.
“It’s very out of character for Alan — he must have been pushed to the limit. I was a bit disappointed no one got up and helped him.”
If that’s his limit, he may need help. The Daily Record reprots:
Andreas “Hawk” Schoyen, UK director of crimebusters Guardian Angels, said: “We would definitely like Alan to join us. We run a training programme which would help him to develop the correct skills to better handle situations like the one he found himself in. I have watched the footage on YouTube and I’d say Alan’s intentions are good but that he could do with some conflict resolution training.
“We could help him develop the physical skills and negotiation skills he needs. The Guardian Angels strongly believe in and applaud members of the public who dare to care about their community by intervening and peacefully resolving conflicts on public transport. Citizen’s arrest is our last resort when dealing with a conflict resolution. If such action needs to be taken, it should be done using minimum force and in accordance with the law.”
The Mail continues:
“The inspector wasn’t capable of putting the boy off the train. The inspector gave Alan permission to do it. If the inspector said no, he would have sat down.”
The Inspector could have called the British Transport Police to pick Sam Main up at the next stop.
“This (sort of thing) happens just about every other day. The train fares are so high because of the number of fare dodgers.”
No. The fares are high because the system is broken.
James Pollock has more to say. He wonders if Sam Main is fit to study at Heriot-Watt University, where he is in his second year:
“I’ll be wondering what the Heriot-Watt principal will say if that’s somebody representing his university.I don’t want to ruin his career, but yobbish behaviour can’t be accepted.”
And that’s it in a nutshell, Mr Pollock.
Posted: 17th, December 2011 | In: Key Posts, News Comments (15) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
December 23rd, 2011 at 9:59 pm
Another nail in the Sam Main coffin, seems he’s been caught on CCTV trying to trip up the conductor http://tinyurl.com/dxjpztw
Whats anyone got to say about that then?
December 21st, 2011 at 4:13 pm
I am not saying, but I would suspect the “contravention of licensing act” charge will fall through – can’t see the district court wasting their time on that. As the the “Big Man” talk about being knee-deep in the doodoo Merry Christmas Big Man
Up yours! lol
December 21st, 2011 at 2:53 pm
Big man charged
.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-16288101
December 19th, 2011 at 6:09 am
Sam Main should report the Mail coverage to the PCC. It was just as guilty of trying to orchestrate mob mentality the Inspector. The Inspector is obviously in need of training, or Scot Rail has some serious problems with it’s policy. Sam Main had every right to retrieve his belongings, he wasn’t aware that someone else had decided to throw them off the Train. Yes his swearing was wrong, but faced with an un professional Scot Rail trying to inflame the situation, and antagonise other passengers to act as a mob it was understandable. It was assault, plain and simple, and comments from a mob of Daily Fail readers does not make it acceptable. Mr Main is the sort of person who should be heard at Leveson, not those preened by their PR companies.
December 18th, 2011 at 11:03 pm
Some hilarious comments from David Campbell and coolandcalm. The only sensible comment being “comments being made by people who dont know the facts” CORRECT The only people who know the facts are the people that were there so coolandcalm WRONG to say “he was injured as a result of landing on his FACE on the platform” no he SAYS he was injured and landed on his face that doesn’t means its true. “The issuing clerk made an innocent mistake” really were you there? David Campbell no chances are you were not so you too are making comments when you don’t know the facts.
As far as I’m concerned and this is MY OPINION this persons account is a pack of lies because
1.Ticket inspectors don’t normally ask people to get off a train if they have a valid ticket.
2. They will always give you an opportunity to buy a ticket.
3. The conductor is heard saying you don’t have any money. So presumably he had told the ticket inspector that yet he says in his interview he did have money.
4. According to his interview he was sold two singles so he KNEW he did not have a valid train ticket when he boarded the train. He could have sorted out the ticket problem when he arrived after the outward journey and before he boarded the return journey and if tickets can be bought on the trains why buy two singles in the morning.
5. He swears at the conductor and says he;s shown him the ticket which he already knew was an invalid ticket why would he do that.
6.He then makes it known that he is the person in the video and does media interviews
You can make as many excuses as you like for him. None of his story makes sense. Neither has he apologised for anything
So in summary he was sold the wrong ticket, he ignored two opportunities to get the correct ticket(3 if you include the time on the train), somehow the conductor thought he had no money and he did not offer to buy another because he wasn’t given the opportunity to do so…
Its all bullsh*t. None of what he did is illegal and it doesn’t prove he wasn’t assaulted the trouble is he’s a liar and therefore when the interviews that he has given to the press and the original video are played back he will be shown up for what he is. There isn’t a jury in the land that will believe his version of events and thanks to his selfless need to give has many interviews has he can there isn’t an employer in the land that will employ him nice work Sam Main. Your 15 minutes of fame will cost you dear.
December 17th, 2011 at 7:42 pm
Its a shame there was no Mr Pollock on the train in essex when a 47 year old got knived by 2 youths because the ticket inspector asked them to leave the train as they had no valid ticket. Why should yobbos get a free ride? Watching the vidoe, swearing, rude, disrespectful, manners of a pig. Obviously he was raised as an upstanding citizen. If he did have 2 tickets why are they showing his face instead of showing TWO tickets with the time stamped on it? The receipt? Why isn’t that evidence all over the news?
All that talk what if it was a woman, pregnant lady, old man or whatever. They would have ticket and show it instead of people disrespectful. Use your common sense. If you were on a train and got asked to present a ticket would you profuce one and end up shouting and swearing? His stupid behaviour is the problem. I was brought up to listen to my parents, respectful to others, please, thank you etc. Still do. Don’t think this idiot was brought up with anything!
December 17th, 2011 at 7:26 pm
What gets me on a lot of posts, here and on the Wail is that the very people outraged at so- called rudeness quite happily accept violence…..I just hope we are much further away from the scenes in Egypt today, but I suppose some will find that acceptable too
December 17th, 2011 at 7:24 pm
You forget that he was only thrown after he was stupid enough to try and get back on, after an initial “gentle” eviction, nothing happened here that is wrong except for some train fare dodging , he got caught out, acted like a pillock and got thrown off, back in my day that’s a fair cop……
December 17th, 2011 at 7:09 pm
absolutely.
I stick with my previous comment……
It was none of that blokes business, the lad was half his size and he was injured as a result of landing on his FACE on the platform. There may have been an issue over the ticket but that was for the railway police to deal with if necessary.
Big Man was a big fat bully and the Ticket Inspector was a big fat wuss hiding behind him.
Gratuitous Violence. Hope they both have the book thrown at them.
December 17th, 2011 at 7:04 pm
The relevant point is not that the ticket, bought in good faith, was not valid for the journey being undertaken but that the conductor did not listen to Sam Main’s explanation and did not explain calmly and politely how the situation should be resolved. This might have been by Sam buying a railcard concession single for the journey at £3.35 and then reclaiming the £3.35 paid for the ticket he had not asked for in the morning. I do not know what the correct procedure should have been! He was dimissed loudly and offensively by this conductor in such a way that he was embarassed in front of the other passengers and as a result lost his composure. The situation then went out of control. He has already publicly apologised for this. It was the conductor’s behavior which catalysed the incident.
December 17th, 2011 at 6:01 pm
Wonder which bank employs Mr Pollock and I wonder what their methods of dealing with overdrawn customers are…
Such a shame the incident wasn’t recorded from the very beginning, and not being ageist at all but why is the ticket inspector still employed in such a confrontational role at his age.
The outcome of the legal court case will be very interesting given the bullying violence of the kangaroo one
December 17th, 2011 at 5:26 pm
I think the relevant point here is he did not have a valid ticket to travel, it was not the inspectors fault that the passenger failed to check his own ticket that he had purchased at the time of purchase if that indeed is the case. In any other circumstance it would be the same, you wouldn’t expect to take a flight or go to the cinema with a ticket with the wrong date or destination on it. The young boy’s disgusting foul mouth rant at the inspector was disrespectful both to the inspector and the surrounding passengers, of which there were young children, irrelevant of what happened later. Now to see him and his friends joking about the situation and his new found celebrity on social networking websites is a disgrace, whilst the eldery inspector has been suspended from his job.
Today an Essex ticket inspector was stabbed by two boys of a similar age who also refused to pay their fare and were told to get off the train.
Moderator – there is NO connection between the Essex case and the one under discussion, and I have edited your supposition out
December 17th, 2011 at 4:36 pm
Lenny and Sam Main both have my full support. I am appalled at the comments being made by people who dont know the facts and dont know that they dont know.Information from the trainline supports Sam’s story about the anytime single for the outward journey and a railcard concession single for the return being cheaper than an anytime day return. I hope the clerk who advised him remembers the advice and that Sam took it or that 2 such tickets being bought at the same time can be shown up on the electronic equipment at the ticket office. The issuing clerk made an innocent mistake but the train company is still at fault for not supplying what it offered to supply what was asked for. Had this conductor followed the protocol for dealing with the situation there would have been no problem for anyone. The remarks he SHOUTED at Sam were defamatory and his behavior was also foul and abusive. Swearing is not necessary for abusive behavior or a Breach of the Peace. Most people making comments dont deem to know this. He was also complicit in the assault by ageeing to Pollock assaulting Sam. It is worthy of note that Sam is the only one of the three to apologise for his part in the altercation. To Sam and Lenny: illegitimi non carborundum (dont let the b*****ds grind you down).
December 17th, 2011 at 4:36 pm
I’m with you and your son and so are others… have a look at the other thread…
Gratuitous violence is not the answer to anything and yeeha responses are ridiculous but thats the era of the internet I guess.
There but for circumstances go any of our sons and daughters, which begs the question, supposing the ticketless one had been a girl/youmg woman? what then?
December 17th, 2011 at 1:36 pm
Finally, an independent, unbiased view. Thank you. For a full week now, my family have had to withstand a barrage of comments from people with nothing other than an unimformed opinion.