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Police pepper sprayed a man after he was told to wear a mask on public transportation.
Dramatic footage shows the moment when 34-year-old Anthony Baldwin is confronted by the British Transport Police (BTP) asking him to get off the train.
Police had boarded a Merseyrail train at Liverpool Lime Street station on Wednesday afternoon in response to a report of a man coughing up two passengers.
Baldwin has been charged with threatening behavior and assaulting a police officer.
(Image: British Transport Police @ BTP / Twitter)
Mobile phone images of the incident have been widely shared on social media and show the man telling the officer: “The law does not allow you to touch me.
“I don’t have to wear a mask, in the end, and you don’t have to challenge me either.”
The officer responds: “I’m not going to argue anymore. Get off or we’ll take you.”
(Image: British Transport Police @ BTP / Twitter)
The passenger refuses and a fight ensues when the officer tries to eject him from the train.
He is then warned to “get off the train or I’ll lock you up”, before the officer tells him “I’ll spray you, buddy.”
Video footage shows the spray being discharged and then more officers arrive and the man is pulled from the train.
He told the Sun that he did not wear a mask on the train because he had suffered from “severe anxiety” after his father’s death five years ago.
(Image: British Transport Police @ BTP / Twitter)
He added: “I don’t have to wear a mask [on the train]. I am exempt.
“I have severe anxiety. In the video, the police pull my blouse over my head and you hear me scream. “
Since then, a complaint has been submitted to the BTP Professional Standards Department, which is under review.
Like Scotland, anyone traveling on public transport in England must wear a face shield under Covid-19 regulations, except for children under the age of 11 and people with disabilities or certain health conditions.
Our sister newspaper The Mirror reports that a BTP spokesperson said: “A man has been charged with threatening behavior and assaulting a police officer on a Merseyrail train to Liverpool Lime Street station.”
“The incident occurred around 3:20 pm on Wednesday, September 2.
“Officers had responded to a report of a man coughing up two passengers.”
Anthony Baldwin, 34, of Hawthorn Road, Little Sutton, will appear in Liverpool and Knowsley Magistrates Court on January 6 charged with threatening behavior and battery.
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