London tube 'pusher' who shoved ex-Eurotunnel chief onto track gets life sentence

Sir Robert Malpas fell onto the tracks as a train approached

Published on 25/06/2019 - 13:19•Updated 26/06/2019 - 09:05

A schizophrenic who pushed a 90-year-old former chairman of Eurotunnel onto the tracks at a busy London Underground station was sentenced to life imprisonment after having previously been found guilty of two counts of attempted murder.

Paul Crossley underwent months of psychiatric assessment before he was sentenced by a judge to a hospital order until he is deemed fit for prison, where he will spend a minimum of 12 years, British Transport Police said.

Security camera footage showed Crossley attempting to push a 23-year-old man onto the tracks, unsuccessfully, at Tottenham Court Road station in central London on April 27 last year.

Crossley then travelled a couple of stops to Marble Arch station where he shoved Sir Robert Malpas, now 91, onto the tracks. The former businessman suffered multiple pelvis fractures and a severe cut as he plunged head-first onto the tracks.

Detective Inspector Darren Gough, senior investigating officer, said: "I am pleased to see the judge sentenced Crossley to a life imprisonment with a minimum of 12 years with initial hospital order, following several months of psychiatric evaluations since he was convicted of two counts of attempted murder last year."

Malpas was saved by a witness, teacher Riyad El-Hassani, 24, who pulled the elderly man from the rails moments before a train entered the station. "He had one of his hands on the electric rail. I just stopped thinking and ran and jumped,” El-Hassani said. "It was very close, it was a few inches.”

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