Journalist tells how she was 'kicked like a football in the back and swung at' by man on packed south London train

Julia Macfarlane claims she was assaulted on a packed London train
ABC
Olivia Tobin10 August 2018
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A journalist has told how she was "kicked in the back, swung at and verbally abused" on a packed south London train.

Julia Macfarlane was travelling from Gatwick and was exiting a train at East Croydon station when she was allegedly confronted by a man.

During the altercation, the 29-year-old claimed he kicked her "like he was kicking a football" in the lower back.

She added that she was "so disappointed" that no one came to her aid - saying onlookers sat silently.

A spokesman for British Transport Police said officers are investigating an allegation of assault.

Julia Macfarlane said she was at East Croydon station when the alleged incident happened
ABC

Ms Macfarlane said: “I was at the doors [of the train] and just as it was pulling into East Croydon someone behind me was pushing for me to get back.

“I couldn’t move anywhere because there was bags and suitcases and I said ‘I’m getting off here too, mate’.

“From the start he was very aggressive, he was really angry, and he said ‘Well how the F*** am I supposed to know that then?”

Following this outburst, Ms Macfarlane claimed she turned around and the man then kicked her “like he was kicking a football”, in the lower back.

“I couldn’t move and I was just shocked,” she said.

The alleged incident happened at East Croydon station (Google)
Google Street View

She added: “I was furious. I was like how dare you, what are you doing? I thought ‘You’re not going to get away with it’.”

Ms Macfarlane, who has been attacked on public transport before, said she tried to take a photograph of the man so she could pass it over to the police.

But the man continued to say expletives and was trying to punch her, Ms Macfarlane alleged.

The carriage, which Ms Macfarlane said was “packed” full of people, watched on, she said.

She said: “They were just watching. It was just silence. I was so angry everyone on the train. I’ve seen things like that on the train, and racial abuse on trains, and I’ve intervened before. I’m just amazed that Londoners can be that jaded.”

Ms Macfarlane said a kind passer-by eventually came to her aid as the doors opened.

A young man, Ms Macfarlane said, rushed over and tried to confront the man while she tried to call the police.

She said: “Just the fact that he [came over] is the reason I have a kind of hope in people. I’m just so disappointed that no one on the train helped out.”

Ms Macfarlane added that she believed without the help of the kind, younger man the alleged attacker “would have gotten away with it.”

A spokesman for British Transport Police said the incident is being investigated.

The spokesman said: “Officers from British Transport Police are currently investigating an allegation of assault which happened on board a train at East Croydon station on August 10. No arrests have been made an enquiries are on-going.”

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