In a shocking incident, a train passenger was pepper-sprayed by police after he refused to wear a face mask in England.
According to the details, a British transport police officer asked Anthony Baldwin, 34, to wear a mask which he refused, citing that he is exempt from the rules because he suffers from panic attacks on a Wirral line service at Lime Street Station in Liverpool.
The passenger asked the police officer that he does not have to wear one due to a ‘medical condition’.
In the video, the police officer continues to insist the man puts on a mask or leave the train, but the man refuses sparking a violent tussle. A scuffle breaks out between Baldwin and the police officer, who uses his pepper spray after the man resists arrest, Mail Online reported.
The officer gives the passenger final warning before telling him, “You’re getting off.” He tries to remove him by force but the man refuses to budge.
He wrestles with the officer – who threatens to pepper spray him – as fellow passengers protest: ‘He’s done nothing wrong. Medical condition.’
The officer then attempts to spray the unruly passenger – who desperately shields his face – but is unable to get a clear shot and urgently calls for backup on his radio.
He is finally subdued and led off the train, as other passengers – furious at his removal – demand to know the name of the arresting officer.
It is pertinent to mention here that passengers on public transport in England are required by law to wear a mask, or face a £100 fine, unless they have a medical condition which prevents them from wearing a mask.
Talking to journalists Baldwin, the father-of-five has lifted the lid further on the incident, and accused British Transport Police of a ‘heavy-handed’ approach.
He said, “I have got severe anxiety. In the video the police pull my top over my head and you can actually hear me screaming. I was panicking and I had a panic attack in the back of the police van and they just kept laughing at me.”
Baldwin also denied coughing on fellow passengers after BTP said that was the reason for the call to the train.
