Tram passenger who hurled racist abuse arrested
Woman's complaints about ethnic minorities living in UK filmed by fellow passenger on London tramlink route and put online
Staff and agencies
guardian.co.uk, Monday 28 November 2011 19.32 GMT
A woman has been arrested for allegedly making racist comments to other passengers on a packed tram. The incident was filmed and posted online, prompting police to investigate.
The clip (which contains explicit comments some viewers may find offensive) had been viewed more than 124,000 times by Monday afternoon after being uploaded to YouTube on Sunday, and shows a woman with a child on her lap shouting abuse at passengers. The incident happened on the Croydon to Wimbledon tramlink. British Transport police said a 34-year-old woman had been arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence.
The video footage, which sparked a Twitter trend with the hashtag #MyTramExperience on Monday, shows a woman complaining about ethnic minorities living in Britain. She starts by saying: "What has this country come to? … with loads of black people and a load of *** Polish. You ain't English either. None of you are *** English. Get back to your own ***, d'you know what?
"Sort out your own countries. Don't come and do mine. Britain is nothing now. Britain is *** all."
One of the passengers on the tram asks her to mind her language, saying: "There are little kids on the tram." The woman points to the child on her lap and says "I've got a little kid here."
Several other passengers complain about her use of language and racist comments, but the tirade carries on for more than two minutes.
Police launched an investigation after the video was brought to their attention on YouTube and Twitter. A spokesman said: "At present it is not entirely clear which tram stops the offence took place between and when it occurred.
"As a result, we need anyone who witnessed this incident, or with any information that could assist our investigation, to contact us."
UK: Tram passenger who hurled racist abuse arrested
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Re: UK: Tram passenger who hurled racist abuse arrested
Woman filmed allegedly shouting racial abuse on tram will spend Christmas in prison
Woman who has been seen 11 million times on YouTube cries as magistrates watch video of the incident on London tram
Ben Quinn
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 6 December 2011 21.03 GMT
A woman who was filmed allegedly shouting racial abuse at fellow passengers on a tram in south London will spend Christmas in prison after she was remanded in custody during a court appearance. She has been charged with a racially aggravated public order offence.
Emma West, 34, from New Addington, south London, cried as magistrates watched a video of the incident, which has been viewed more than 11m times since it appeared online on 27 November. She was arrested after the footage was posted on YouTube.
A bail application was made at Croydon magistrates court by West's solicitor, David Ewings, but it was denied by the magistrate Ian McNeal.
She was remanded in custody to appear by videolink for a committal hearing on 3 January.
Her supporters screamed out "Treason" and cried "We love you, Emma. Be strong," as she was led to the cells.
Earlier, an administrative error led to the defendant entering a not guilty plea, but the court file was later amended to show she has not yet pleaded.
Woman who has been seen 11 million times on YouTube cries as magistrates watch video of the incident on London tram
Ben Quinn
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 6 December 2011 21.03 GMT
A woman who was filmed allegedly shouting racial abuse at fellow passengers on a tram in south London will spend Christmas in prison after she was remanded in custody during a court appearance. She has been charged with a racially aggravated public order offence.
Emma West, 34, from New Addington, south London, cried as magistrates watched a video of the incident, which has been viewed more than 11m times since it appeared online on 27 November. She was arrested after the footage was posted on YouTube.
A bail application was made at Croydon magistrates court by West's solicitor, David Ewings, but it was denied by the magistrate Ian McNeal.
She was remanded in custody to appear by videolink for a committal hearing on 3 January.
Her supporters screamed out "Treason" and cried "We love you, Emma. Be strong," as she was led to the cells.
Earlier, an administrative error led to the defendant entering a not guilty plea, but the court file was later amended to show she has not yet pleaded.
