November 07, 2013: Melbourne tram inspectors have been filmed forcibly detaining a fare-evading university student at a tram stop on Swanston Street.
A Melbourne university student claims he was assaulted by public transport ticket inspectors when he failed to produce a valid ticket in Melbourne's CBD.
The incident, captured on a mobile phone, is now being investigated, with Public Transport Minister Terry Mulder saying such confrontations were "never a good look" for inspectors.
Michael Liu, 20, says he was grabbed and shoved to the ground by three Yarra Trams inspectors after he got off the tram in Swanston Street on October 29.
"I was assaulted," Mr Liu told Fairfax Radio.
"They grabbed my arm. Somehow I ended up under the bench.
"I remember getting choked and my arm getting twisted."
August 01, 2013: Two 15-year-old girls have been arrested, following a brawl with Metro employees at Melbourne's Flinders Street Station.
Mr Liu says the officers used excessive force and he will consider pressing charges against the officers, whom he said "kind of enjoyed" the incident.
Witness, Ingrid, told Fairfax Radio the inspectors were holding Mr Liu's arm back and he was yelling out in pain.
"I saw the three guards holding him down, three big men on one teenager," she said.
"Yes he didn't have a ticket but they could've released him a little bit just to get the pressure off him, they really had him pushed down," she said.
Yarra Trams says it is investigating the incident, in which an officer required hospital treatment for a hand injury.
It says Mr Lui pushed two officers violently when told he was under arrest.
Yarra Trams will submit a brief to the transport department which will decide on appropriate charges.
Mr Mulder says there would be a full investigation, admitting a confrontation like that was "never a good look".
But he defended the role of authorised officers.
"If you're stopped by an authorised officer on public transport and you're asked to provide your myki (Melbourne public transport smart card) to check whether it's valid, then you just need to comply with that, do so in a polite manner and nothing will escalate," he told Fairfax Radio.
Yarra Trams says authorised officers can place people under arrest, physically if necessary, under the Transport Act.
Government figures show fare evaders rip $60 million from honest commuters every year.
Do you have any story leads, photos or videos?
No comments:
Post a Comment