Guard's frustration leads to assault

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 305, 19 September 1989, Page 6

Guard's frustration leads to assault

Though convicted and fined for assault, a New Zealand Railways guard who broke two of a passenger's teeth should not lose his job, said the Ohakune District Court iudge last week.

Malcolm John Northemer Train at Clewett, 49,. of Tawa, Ohakune Railway Wellington pleaded not Station. Judge Unwin guilty to assaulting heard the case at the Wayne Michael Gunnell Ohakune District Court on 17 February on the last Thursdav.

The complainant told the court he had gone to the Ohakune Junction Railway station "in a slightly drunk and happy mood" after his own farewell party nearby, to catch the 2am train. When the train arrived a friend put his bags in the guard's van and soon after, he sat in the open guard's van as the train was moving away from the station. A guard then tried to push him from the train, and he shouted to him that he had a ticket and was a legal passenger but he said the guard tried to push him out the door by kneeing him in the back and pushing his shoulders. Mr Gunnell said he managed to move sideways and roll into the van, then the guard swung what he assumed was a torch at him and knocked out one and a half teeth. The complainant said he then showed the

guard his ticket which he took. The guard then told him to take a seat, which he did. He said he went to sleep. Later he reported the incident to a person selling coffee at a booth at a station north of Hamilton, then to the police in Auckland. Accident Compensation paid to fix the damaged teeth but the complainant said he still suffered discomfort. The complainant, under crossexamination, denied he had a bottle during the incident and that the guard had accidentally hit him with it while trying to throw it from the train. Witness for the complainant, Anthony Neil McMillan told the coujt he and about 12 people went to the station to farewell Mr Gunnell. He said when the train arrived it hardly seemed to stop, and that when Mr Gunnell had told the

guard "I'm the one", while showing his ticket, the guard said "you'll never get on the train on time". Mr McMillan said when he saw the guard forcibly grab Mr Gunnell he thought he was trying to pull him onto the train. Two other witnesses said they saw the guard knee the complainant in the back. Clewett told the court he had worked for Railways for 23 years including five as a guard. He said he didn't recall anyone speaking to him at the station. He said there was a very large crowd of people at the station and that the train was there for about three minutes. He said he gave the signal to the driver from inside the train and, on entering the van, saw a person sitting on the floor. He said he asked him what he was doing there. Turnpage7

Court

From page 6 Clewett said he then tried to shut the door and saw what seemed to be a large green bottle between the person's legs. He picked up the bottle and swung it to let it fall onto the tracks, then shut the door and asked for the man's ticket. The person said "look what you've done " and showed him his teeth which were bleeding. Clewett said he didn't know the man had been struck until he saw the teeth, and he denied trying to push the man out of the van. He said he may have touched the man to steady himself while shutting" the door. He said passengers were not allowed in the guard's van for safety reasons. Judge Unwin said in his summing up that he didn't believe Clewett had tried to push Mr Gunnell out of the van but he was satisfied there had been and assault. He said he took the view Clewett's action was a one-off situation caused by frustration from dealing with unco-operative people. All of the fine was to go to the complainant.