Man Arrested For Helping Old Woman With Train Fare
TO the brave new world of Virgin trains:
Stand-up Tom Wrigglesworth was threatened with arrest – after coming to the aid of an elderly train passenger who had been reduced to tears by Virgin Train staff.
The comic stepped in after he saw 75-year-old Lena Ainscow sobbing after she was forced to pay £115 for getting on the wrong train.He organised a whip-round among fellow passengers to cover the fare, but the officious train manager said his actions amounted to begging – and called police. He ordered 32-year-old Wrigglesworth to hand back the cash or face being arrested.
The incident occurred yesterday as Mrs Ainscow was travelling from her home in Bolton, Greater Manchester, to see family in Bromley, Kent, including her son-in-law, who had just returned from a tour of duty in Iraq with the Royal Artillery.
She had paid £11.50 to travel on the 10.45am Manchester to Euston service. But her travel itinerary, issued by Virgin, said she had been booked on the 10.15am train. When she queried the discrepancy with Virgin staff in Manchester, they told her to board the earlier service.
However, that held no sway with the train manager who forced her to pay for a new ticket for being on the wrong service.
Wrigglesworth told Chortle: ‘I was trying to sleep when I heard the train manager insisting this old dear pay the fare, so I tried to intervene, because it was obviously just a mistake.
‘She said, “It’s all right, love” and produced loads of notes from her handbag to pay the fare. But it was only pride that she said that, and I saw she was crying. It turned out she was carrying all that cash because she’d saved up her pension money to buy her grandkids presents.’
‘I thought I had to do something, so I got a paper bag from the buffet car and started a collection.
‘I wasn’t sure that I wanted to get involved, but I had this weird sense that I had to, because of what I do for a living. If anyone was going to be able to stand up in front of a carriage full of people and ask for money, it should be me. I thought that I just said the words of anger that were ringing in my head, the worst thing that can happen is that I die as if it was a bad gig.’
‘So I went through about six carriages, making a little speech that if we all chucked a quid we would get the money in no time. Everyone was happy to help and someone even put in £30.
‘But there was this drunk bloke in one carriage – and this was about 11.30am – who accused me of begging. He started heckling me. I thought, “You don’t know who you’re dealing with.” I turned it into a gig and put him down. People were happy to pay the £1 for that entertainment. At some carriages I got a round of applause.’
‘The manager, who was the Nazi jobsworth personified, accused me of begging and asked me to give everyone’s money back. I started to get quite cocky. He said I should have asked his permission first – but I told him I hadn’t done this sort of thing before, so I wasn’t aware of the procedure.
‘He lost his temper and said he was going to get me arrested if I didn’t give people their money back. I told him people didn’t want it back.’
Virgin - we’re getting there… slowly…
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Posted: 12th, October 2008 | In: Strange But True, Twitterings Comments (16) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
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October 13th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
This is for Jo that left the comment “People are really fucked up in the UK” How do you know that the drunk wasnt from a differnet country ?
As for Tom Wrigglesworth he was just boing a stand up guy helping another human being out when they needed it. I bet you are the type of person that turns the other cheek and walks on by. This old woman could have been thrown off the train in a snow storm and you would have been happy about that ?
Next time you want to give your comment DONT !
October 13th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Yes; somehow I can’t see the cast of Little Britain coming to the aid of a 75 year old lady in distress…
October 13th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Harry lewis
Your”e right, the Virgin Employee SHOULD be named and shamed. Trouble is, he”s
probably been fired by Branson, which many would consider punishment enough.
Good to think that there are still people like Wrigglesworth who genuinely care about
fellow human beings.
October 12th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
Hi Mic,
How are you and your family? I hope all is very good for you. No Mic, I’m not the writer called Jo. Sometimes I do write one-liners but often my comments on this site about any particular subject are longer. I don’t think that its so much the UK population who are “fu*ked up” but certainly the new Labour government has been doing a fantastic job of fuc*ing up a good country.
The original story was certainly intersting but didn’t particularly surprise me Mic, as people in uniforms or even without uniforms(in local authorities or government) are full of their own importance from the time they wake-up to their last fart of the day!
You aren’t writing so often these days, Mic. This site does seem to me a rather different
without the comments of Duncan R and Carmen.
Best to you from Brazil,
JOHN BLAKE
October 12th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Well, the rumour has it that as well as partly nationalising at least two banks tomorrow, Britain may impose exchange controls as well. I suppose it may depend on just how much of the estimated $270 billion payout on Lehman Brothers dodgy derivatives is supposed to come from our banks.
In which case Littlejohn will have an apoplexy, poor chap…
October 12th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
I don’t think we are Xenophobic compared to certain other countries and most countries aren’t that fond of us.
Just kidding.
I actually think we’re reasonably tolerant (excluding the BNP nutters of course) and mostly not patriotic enough. Nothing wrong with being proud of our heritage and history IMO
As I was saying to Littlejohn the other day……
October 12th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Cool and Calm, say that it isn’t so!
Surely only we proud Anglo-Saxons can be xenophobes; what is the world coming to if any tom, dick or harry foreigner could usurp our tradition?
I think I’ll write to the Mail about it…
October 12th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Mic… yes its true. There is an investigation going on according to the papers.
Mic again… Xenophobia doesn’t include the Brits apparently!
October 12th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Fantastic story.
Is it true?
Jo, thanks for your kind words to the UK population. I’m sure we all really appreciate them. You’re not John Blake in disguise are you?
October 12th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Shocking behaviour bu Virgin Staff.
The train manager should be named and shamed. Not sure how Richard Branson would react to the bad press.
Perhaps the train manger would be better suited giving out parking tickets.
October 12th, 2008 at 11:32 am
It would have to be pretty bad to warrant picking up the iron; I’m impressed!
October 12th, 2008 at 11:07 am
…………………….Tumba-Fly is a tropical insect feared for its habit of laying eggs in wet clothes which when worn, triggers the eggs to hatch into maggots which then bury into your skin. They look like boils with a breathing hole and the unfortunate afflicted recipient must wait a couple of weeks until they have grown large enough to extract. The only way to avoid them is to iron your clothes…………
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I still have the scar from one of the above from when I lived in Africa.
October 12th, 2008 at 10:33 am
I don’t know what tumba flies are, and how many you need to make a pox, but it sounds a pretty horrible fate to wish on someone.
Well done, Cool and Calm!
October 12th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Ta Jo.
October 12th, 2008 at 10:29 am
People are really fucked up in the UK
October 12th, 2008 at 10:21 am
You can’t beat a good jobsworth! Is there a training school somewhere for them? They do seem to come in all shapes and sizes and usually do a job with a uniform.
it is however so nice to read of someone actually doing something. A pat on the back to young Mr Wrigglesworth for having the courage of his convictions.
I also wish a pox of tumba flies on the groin of the ticket inspector!