Ex-football star Atkinson prophesied his own end
UK FAN SAVES €412 WITH 11 HOUR TRIP TO MATCH – VIA DUBLIN
FORMER Premier League star Dalian Atkinson prophesied his own death and believed the NHS or police would kill him, a court heard.
The ex-Aston Villa striker died after being tasered and kicked in the head by PC Benjamin Monk outside his dad’s home in Telford, Shropshire, in August 2016.
Monk’s former girlfriend is facing a retrial, accused of battering Atkinson (48) with her baton shortly before his death.
PC Mary Ellen BettleySmith (32) is charged with assault and has gone on trial at Birmingham Crown Court.
Smash
AN ENGLISH football fan facing a €450 train ticket to watch Doncaster Rovers got there for €38 — by flying to Dublin and back to England again and taking a tram and two trains.
Jack Peat (36) tries to see his hometown team as often as possible since moving to London in 2012, and wanted to see them face Barrow AFC away.
Return
Faced with an €450 open return train ticket to Barrow-inFurness, Cumbria, he decided to look for alternatives.
He managed to get there for
€38 — but it involved a many legged journey.
He got a tram from Beckenham Road to East Croydon for €2.90 at 6.45am on Tuesday, and a train from East Croydon to Gatwick
Airport for €6.83 at 7.30am. He boarded a flight from Gatwick to Dublin for €11.57 at 9.30am, and then took another flight from Dublin to Manchester for €9 at 1.50pm.
His mammoth 11 hours journey ended with a final train from Manchester Airport to Barrow for €7.52 at 3.30pm.
His efforts were rewarded when the team found out and invited him into the dressing room for a pre-match team talk — even thought they lost 2-0.
Editor and author Jack, who lives near Crystal Palace in London, said: “I really wanted to watch Doncaster Rovers play Barrow but there was no way I was paying €450 to get there on the train.
“I planned an alternative route to highlight three things — my love for Doncaster Rovers, my eagerness to try the best pies in Britain, and how utterly absurd UK rail fares are.
“I’ve followed Doncaster all my life but live down in London now, so I try my best to see them when I can.
Lyrical
“I particularly wanted to go to Barrow because I wax lyrical about it in my book — ‘The Great Pie Revolt’ — which I wrote based on local recommendations.
“The last stretch seemed to take absolutely forever but it was a great day out and I managed to squeeze a few beers in before kick off.”
Jack made it to Barrow-onFurness two hours before kick off last night.