Most of us will remember the case of Rasta Judah 68 years old, a police community worker from Bristol, with a 30 year track record of working with police, who was himself was arrested and tasered, by Avon and Somerset police, in January 2017. Well it appears, this i's not an isolated case, in fact, we are seeing increasing numbers of both the young and elderly, being unfairly harassed by police officers.
Now we hear of the disgusting treatment of a 58-year-old man, Gilbert Watt, making his way to work, from Cardiff to London in the early hours of 28.01.2019 was summarily thrown off the coach, by South Wales police, despite having a valid ticket.
Please sign and share the petition calling for justice for Mr Gilbert Watt here....
Mr Gilbert Watt and Hilary Brown.
His long time partner. Ms Hilary Brown, had purchased an e-ticket for Gilbert Watt, a six-foot Rastafarian black man, to return to London Victoria Coach Station from Cardiff, Sophia Gardens. It's a journey been making every weekend for two years without any problems.
Gilbert was lucky, his partner just so happens to be Hilary Brown, a long time rights campaigner now successful and now business woman. Hilary is a proud Welsh black woman and more importantly owner of Virgo Legal Services Ltd, with offices in both in Wales and London.
Hilary had dropped of Gilbert at Cardiff coach station, at around 02.20am. As usual he and his partner said their goodbyes and Hilary then left and he attempted to board the Coach.
The coach driver of the London bound coach was about to check his ticket and out of nowhere another driver, claiming to be management, instructed the London coach driver not to let Gilbert on the Coach. When challenged as to why by the London driver, he was told that Gilbert did not have a "paper" ticket.
Gilbert continued to state that he did not need a paper ticket, as he had an e-ticket, a ticket he had used, every weekend for the last two years.
As Gilbert was making his case, the manager/driver was becoming enraged and demanding that he be refused entry to the coach.
 |
| National Express: No Black's Allowed On Our Buses. |
The driver of the London coach then approached Gilbert now on the coach and said " the manager said this coach cannot leave Cardiff, with you on it."
Gilbert, now quite shocked and alarmed, calmly stated again, that he had a valid ticket and needed to be in work in the morning and was staying on the Coach. Gilbert was told he had to leave the coach and although he explained he had to get to work for Monday morning. Despite his pleas he was not advised by the manager, that he could have simply bought a new ticket, from the driver. That was not offered nor was he advised, though we now know, this is standard practice.
Instead he was told in no uncertain terms, to get off the coach. He was advised that his only option was to catch the next coach, resulting in him being very late for work and losing a full days pay.
The driver then informed him that the police were being called to remove him from the Coach.
In the freezing cold, in Cardiff bus station, in the early hours of the morning, two police vans arrive with 4 uniformed officers.
They boarded the coach and Gilbert showed them his phone and the ticket reference number (which is all that is needed).
The police went, up and down, back and forth between Gilbert and the manager/driver and bizarrely, despite having a valid ticket, Gilbert was then ordered off the coach by the police.
Not knowing what to do, Gilbert rang his partner and she arrived at the Coach station to find that the police refused to let Gilbert back on the Coach which had by this time left, leaving Gilbert stranded 150+ miles away from where he needed to be to get to work.
Gilberts partner then asked police officers why they had insisted that Gilbert get off the Coach. One Police officer stated that Gilbert showed the driver an incorrect reference number. Gilberts partner then immediately took Gilberts phone off the police officer and showed the officer the Gilbert had the correct reference number and shown to the drive, and that is all that is legally required.
She further demonstrated to the police officers, that she had purchased the ticket and had sent a copy of it to Gilbert and showed the officer the email and reference number sent her home phone, and then her message forwarding onto phone onto Gilbert.
A police officer took the phone, and showing it to another employee of National Express, returned stating that as Gilbert's partner had purchased the ticket, then Gilbert would not be able to travel with that ticket, as it is not in his name.
By this time it was nearly 3.00am Gilbert's partner now getting agitated and told the police quite clearly that in they had failed to establish the facts in this matter and had treated Gilbert appallingly simply because he was a Black man
All the officers disagreed with Gilbert and his partner. They were all asked for their collar numbers. The female officer gave Gilbert's partner gave all their numbers, as the male officers, having been challenged about their racism, were now reluctant to speak to her directly.
I took the time to have a look looked at National Express website, on the FAQs section, in response to a question about individual names on tickets which stated the following;
"Having an incorrect name on your ticket won't affect your journey, as our drivers only look at the validity of your ticket."
Even if, the police officers believed that Gilbert's ticket was invalid, why was he summarily removed from the coach, instead of being offered the alternative of purchasing another ticket, an option clearly articulated on their website?
It's precisely this kind of incident, that on any other occasion can go tragically wrong. Had Gilbert had a different temperament, was a much younger man say, then this encounter could have altogether different and potentially been much more serious.
It is these kinds of incidents, that continue to alienate black communities from the police, and reinforce the notion that racism in Britain, is seeping into every aspect of our lives.
It was Hilary who collected him in the middle of nowhere, and knowing the law in detail, she knew what his rights were.
All the officers disagreed with Gilbert and his partner. They were all asked for their collar numbers. The female officer gave Gilbert's partner gave all their numbers, as the male officers, having been challenged about their racism, were now reluctant to speak to her directly.
I took the time to have a look looked at National Express website, on the FAQs section, in response to a question about individual names on tickets which stated the following;
"Having an incorrect name on your ticket won't affect your journey, as our drivers only look at the validity of your ticket."
Even if, the police officers believed that Gilbert's ticket was invalid, why was he summarily removed from the coach, instead of being offered the alternative of purchasing another ticket, an option clearly articulated on their website?
It's precisely this kind of incident, that on any other occasion can go tragically wrong. Had Gilbert had a different temperament, was a much younger man say, then this encounter could have altogether different and potentially been much more serious.
It is these kinds of incidents, that continue to alienate black communities from the police, and reinforce the notion that racism in Britain, is seeping into every aspect of our lives.
It was Hilary who collected him in the middle of nowhere, and knowing the law in detail, she knew what his rights were.
Now imagine if Gilbert had been 21 and alone in Cardiff on that bitterly cold morning?
And what of National Express Coaches, what will be their response? My view, what it's worth, is that the offending manager should be suspended, investigated, disciplined and sacked with immediate effect.
We keep seeing repeated example of this everyday racism, that imprisons, infuriates and angers black communities nationwide. When we complain, we’re the bad guys, when we stay silent then there is no racism.
Yet everyday racism is increasing, new stories come to light every single day, whether it's kids being banned from school because of their hairstyles, black and Asian people being refused job interviews, because of their names, police stop and searches that go tragically wrong, these are the everyday isims and schisms we continually face as a community.
We spend our lives in this country being routinely disbelieved by white people. Everyday question, everyday disbelief, everyday challenged, it cannot go on.
We keep seeing repeated example of this everyday racism, that imprisons, infuriates and angers black communities nationwide. When we complain, we’re the bad guys, when we stay silent then there is no racism.
Yet everyday racism is increasing, new stories come to light every single day, whether it's kids being banned from school because of their hairstyles, black and Asian people being refused job interviews, because of their names, police stop and searches that go tragically wrong, these are the everyday isims and schisms we continually face as a community.
We spend our lives in this country being routinely disbelieved by white people. Everyday question, everyday disbelief, everyday challenged, it cannot go on.
As for Gilbert, well he should now be handsomely compensated for this gross infraction of his human rights, his embarrassment, and any subsequent loss of income earnings he suffered, and all of this should be paid immediately by both the South Wales Police and the National Express Coach company.
Please sign and share the petition calling for justice for Mr Gilbert Watt here....
Update: The National Express Manager, when initially asked for his name, at the time of the incident, by Mr Watt's partner, Ms Hilary Brown, lied and gave a false name.
The day after the incident, we were able to ascertain the mans real name. Why did he lie ?
Please sign and share the petition calling for justice for Mr Gilbert Watt here....
Update: The National Express Manager, when initially asked for his name, at the time of the incident, by Mr Watt's partner, Ms Hilary Brown, lied and gave a false name.
The day after the incident, we were able to ascertain the mans real name. Why did he lie ?
