Hero saved ex-railways chief who was pushed onto track

INDUSTRIALIST SIR Robert Malpas was rescued by a heroic passer-by after he was pushed on to the tracks of the London Underground a minute before a train arrived, a court has heard.

The former Eurotunnel chairman, 91, was left with a fractured pelvis and blood pouring from a large wound in his head after Paul Crossley, 46, shoved him, jurors were told.

Riyad El Hussani jumped on to the tracks at Marble Arch station with the electronic arrivals board showing one minute until the next train. He suffered a burn to his right hand after touching the electrified track but managed to pull Sir Robert to the edge of the platform, where he was helped up by other members of the public.

Crossley, who had earlier made an unsuccessful bid to push another Tube passenger, Tobias French, on to the tracks at Tottenham Court Road station, was chased and caught by passers-by.

Asked by police in interview if there was any reason for what he did, he said: “I had no sleep,” the Old Bailey heard. Crossley denies two charges of attempted murder and an alternative count of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm to Mr French on April 27.

He has pleaded guilty to attempting to wound Sir Robert. CCTV cameras captured both incidents and no witnesses will be called to give evidence in the three-day trial.

The court heard Crossley got off a Central line train at Tottenham Court Road just after 3pm and followed Mr French before sitting directly behind him as he stood close to the platform edge.

Mr French stumbled when he was pushed twice towards the tracks as a train was approaching, the court heard. “Fortunately, the man managed to prevent himself from falling on to the tracks,” prosecutor Benjamin Aina QC said.

Sir Robert, who was knighted by the Queen in 1998, was walking along the platform wearing a distinctive raincoat. “He (Crossley) approached Sir Robert Malpas at speed and pushed him with two hands, sending him sprawling across the platform and down on to the track,” said Mr Aina.

Crossley, from London, told members of the public who detained him: “It’s not right, I know it’s wrong,” the court heard.

The trial continues.