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600 face court for feet

Paul Britton
5/ 9/2007

SIX-hundred more people are to appear in court in a train company's crackdown on passengers putting their feet on seats.

The M.E.N. revealed on Monday that student Kathleen Jennings (pictured), 19, was being brought before the bench after being caught by the ban.

But magistrates branded the Merseyrail policy `draconian' as they handed Kathleen an absolute discharge.

She pleaded guilty at Chester magistrates' court to `wilfully interfering with the comfort or convenience of other rail passengers' but was not even ordered to pay prosecution costs. Merseyrail, the only rail company in the country to prosecute over the issue, defended the policy - and revealed 600 more passengers were due to appear in court in coming months.

A spokesman said fixed penalty notices could not be 'legally issued'.

The company has already prosecuted more than 250 passengers through court summonses since a 'zero tolerance' campaign was launched in February.

Posters

The train carriages carry posters and messages are broadcast through loud speaker warning passengers of their policy.

The court heard how Kathleen, a Cub Scout leader from Derker, Oldham, who also works with disabled children, was caught with her flip-flops on a seat 'for 10 seconds' as she travelled back to Manchester from Chester with her boyfriend Mark Dowling, 22, a fellow maths student at Manchester University. Despite being given the absolute discharge, Kathleen will still have a criminal record.

But after hearing how Kathleen sobbed in front of an enforcement officer and begged him not to take any further action, magistrates said they were 'united' in branding the policy 'draconian'.

A Merseyrail spokeswoman said: "We are responding to the demands of passengers who don't want to sit on a seat covered in mud or dirt."

Kathleen, who could have faced a maximum fine of £1,000, said: "It has been very distressing."

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