Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Soldiers returning from Afghanistan threatened and treated like dirt by jobsworth ticket inspector because of error













Dear All

No one can have any doubt about the bravery of the British Soldier serving in Afghanistan.

The death toll speaks for itself.

These soldiers risk their lives on a daily basis and have been treated shabbily by some sections of the community.

It therefore comes as no surprise that three soldiers returning from Afghanistan were ordered off a train and threatened with arrest by a 'jobsworth' ticket inspector.

This kind of thing beggar’s belief that men travelling home to see their families should be treated so disgracefully by a jobsworth!

One would hope that this person so lacking in commonsense is removed from duty.

The three soldiers’ plane was diverted to East Midlands Airport because of bad weather so their rail warrants were technically invalid through no fault of their own.

Everyone except jobsworth inspector wanted the troops to travel, even the train driver who offered to let them ride with him.

A member of the public Mr. Parkes stepped forward and paid the £146 fare so that these men could get home to their loved ones.

He has since been contacted by East Midlands Trains who said;

“We have also spoken, and passed on our thanks, to the passenger who generously agreed to cover the costs of the soldiers' travel, and we are in the process of reimbursing the costs he incurred.”

And hopefully given some kind of reward?

What is interesting is a colleague of the ticket inspector said;

“We are all instructed to use our discretion - he should have just applied a bit of common sense and let the soldiers travel.”

I think there would be enough support for demoting jobsworth as an inspector.

What a nasty little individual; he has the temperament of a Glasgow University Management employee.

East Midlands Trains spokesman said;

“We are extremely sorry for the way these soldiers were treated”.

A bit late!

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

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