Tube pusher guilty: CCTV shows moment 91-year-old man sent 'flying' onto train tracks
Paul Crossley is found guilty of attempted murder after attacking ex-Eurotunnel boss Sir Robert Malpas on the London Underground.
Saturday 6 October 2018 10:01, UK
CCTV footage has shown the terrifying moment a 91-year-old man was sent "flying" onto train tracks after being pushed off a Tube platform.
Sir Robert Malpas, a former Eurotunnel boss, was attacked as he walked along the platform wearing a brown Burberry raincoat, suit and tie, and carrying an umbrella on 27 April.
He was approached from behind by Paul Crossley, who had a hood pulled over his cap, before being sent sprawling onto the tracks.
Sir Robert, a retired industrialist who was knighted by the Queen in 1999, was rescued by heroic passer-by Riyad El Hussani, who leapt onto the tracks to save him just one minute before the next train's arrival.
But the violent attack left Sir Robert with life-changing injuries, including a fractured pelvis and a gash to the head requiring 12 stitches.
On Friday, Crossley, 46, was found guilty of two counts of attempted murder at the Old Bailey.
A second Tube passenger, Tobias French, managed to keep his balance when he had earlier been pushed by Crossley as a train pulled into Tottenham Court Road station.
Crossley told jurors his victims were chosen at random but claimed he had not intended to kill them.
Sir Robert said he felt himself "flying" on to the tracks at Marble Arch when he was shoved from behind with both hands.
He sobbed after the jury left court following the verdicts, removing his glasses to wipe away tears.
Prosecutor Benjamin Aina QC said Sir Robert was "in a very bad way" following the attack.
He added: "Fortunately he has recovered. He is able to walk and go about his normal affairs."
The judge praised Mr El Hussani for showing "extraordinary bravery with a complete disregard for his own safety in saving Sir Robert".
In a statement read to jurors during the trial, Sir Robert said he had been to a pensioners' lunch in central London before using his freedom pass for his planned journey to Oxford Circus on the central line.
He said: "As I was walking along the platform I felt a two-handed push to my back.
"I felt myself flying over the tracks and landing on the rails. I may have been concussed but only for a very short time. I banged my head on the rails."
His rescuer, Mr El Hussani, said he heard "screams and shouting" before running 20 metres to where Sir Robert lay with his clothes and umbrella covered in blood.
"I then jumped straight on to the tracks to save his life," he said in a statement on the day of the incident.
Mr French, who plays professional sport, told of his own lucky escape, saying: "I remember thinking I was very lucky to be alive."
Speaking outside the Old Bailey, Detective Inspector Darren Gough, from British Transport Police, said: "This was a most shocking incident and the victims in this case were extremely lucky to have survived."