A Scots railway passenger brought a train station to a standstill on a busy Saturday after he effectively “sleepwalked” onto the tracks.
Bailey Netherington was travelling from London to Edinburgh with friends when he randomly got off the carriage at Newcastle Central Station on January 4.
As a result a number of trains were disrupted as efforts were made to detain the 23-year-old before he was eventually arrested.
Prosecutor Gurjot Kaur told Newcastle Magistrates Court, where Netherington appeared wearing a black tracksuit, coat, and Nike trainers, that a passenger had been observed walking along the tracks after the train had come to a stop.
Ms Kaur said: “That was then reported to members of staff and then reported to the police. The defendant was subsequently detained.”
Ms Kaur added that the section of track where he walked over was a particularly busy one with numerous trains operating. The court also heard the station was busier than usual due to it being a Saturday.
She added: “There was a number of officers who had to get involved to detain the defendant because of his aggression towards them as well.”
Netherington, of Perth, was later charged with trespassing onto a railway property which he pleaded guilty to.
Neil Cassidy, defending, said: “He has very little recollection about the circumstances.
“He was travelling from London to Edinburgh with friends when somehow he has got off at Newcastle.
“It’s effectively as if he sleepwalked on the platform.”
Referring to the point when his client realised what he was doing, Mr Cassidy said: “He says ‘I have no idea where I was and what I was doing. I thought I was on the train.'”
He also told the court that Netherington had been drinking excessively the night before but not a lot on the day of the incident.
Mr Cassidy added: “He tells me he had to get up at a very early hour this morning to get down here which in some measures is punishment in itself that he’s going to have to travel back.
“He’s in receipt of universal credit.”
District Judge Kathryn Meek told Netherington: “I think it is a very odd offence the way you were behaving.
“You endangered yourself, there’s no two ways about it, but what you also did was put other people in danger.
“You also brought Newcastle station to a standstill for a period of time.”
He was fined £180 plus court costs.
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