Drunken man tried to climb on moving train at Shrewsbury station
A drunken 26-year-old man tried to climb on a train as it started to move off from Shrewsbury Railway Station, a court has heard.
Andrew Merrett, of Coventry, admitted trespassing on land owned by Network Rail when he ran over three live train lines at the station on Friday, June 28.
Shrewsbury Magistrates Court heard yesterday how Merrett ran across the line between platforms 3 and 4 at about 8.20pm and attempted to mount the roof of the train from the front as it tried to depart.
Station staff pulled him down and detained him before police arrived.
Merrett then failed to answer bail last week.
He was arrested by officers in Birmingham on Saturday and held in custody until appearing in court in Shrewsbury.
Magistrates ordered Merrett to pay back a total of £270 in fines and court charges.
Andrew Burke, prosecuting, said the defendant was first spotted dancing on the edge of Platform 3 at about 8.20pm.
"He then ran across the tracks and crossed over three sets of running lines between Platform 3 and 4 and then attempted to climb on to the front of a stationary train as it was about to leave," Mr Burke told the court.
He said Merrett had admitted he was drunk in an initial interview with police but that he needed to get back to his West Midlands home and had no additional money to pay for a replacement train.
Ian Durrant, defending, said: "This was a case of absolute sheer stupidity and nothing any more sinister. His life could well have been in severe danger as well as other people and he now realises that his actions were wrong."
Magistrate Charles Nunnerley, passing sentence, said Merrett had "potentially put other rail passengers in danger".
