PROBE AS TEEN HELD BY STAFF AT TRAIN STATION
AN investigation has been launched after a teenage boy was allegedly held against his will at a train station last month.
He is believed to have been detained by up to six staff members at Connolly Station in Dublin.
The teenager was accused of attempting to gain access to a platform without a valid ticket.
A woman who saw the incident said another passenger was willing to pay for the ticket but staff refused the offer and allegedly held the boy down and took his jacket, phone and watch from him.
The boy was accompanied by a friend who had not attempted to go through the barrier. The witness described the teenager as looking “very anxious and distressed”.
She added: “The boy, after about 25 minutes of being held there, then asked to go to the toilet.
“Four grown men [the station staff], went into the toilet with this adolescent boy.”
The woman said staff continued to physically hold the boy after he returned from the bathroom.
His friend then allegedly ran out of the station but was knocked to the ground by a staff member and hit his face on the floor.
The witness said: “Travellers were becoming extremely concerned.
“The male staff member continued to hold this boy down, sitting on top of his back, all the while the boy was bleeding from his face and being sat on by the station staff even though he had not, in any way, been involved in any kind of wrongdoing.”
An Irish Rail spokesperson confirmed they were investigating and would be contacting the parties involved.
Gardai were called and arrested the teen who had allegedly not paid for his ticket for a public order offence.