Man who pushed ex-Eurotunnel boss on to tracks guilty of attempted murder
AFORMER Eurotunnel boss sobbed in court as the man who pushed him on to the tracks of the London Underground was found guilty of attempted murder.
Sir Robert Malpas, 91, said he felt himself “flying” on to the rails at Marble Arch station after Paul Crossley, 46, shoved him from behind with both hands.
CCTV footage of the attack drew gasps from the public gallery in the Old Bailey when it was played in court for the first time.
Sir Robert, who was knighted by the Queen in 1998, was rescued by passer-by Riyad El Hussani, who leapt from the platform to save him as the arrivals board showed just one minute until the next train.
But the retired industrialist was left with a fractured pelvis and a gash to the head requiring 12 stitches after the attack on April 27.
A second Tube passenger, Tobias French, managed to keep his balance when he was earlier pushed by Crossley as a train pulled in to Tottenham Court Road station.
Crossley told jurors his victims were chosen at random but claimed he had not intended to kill them.
But he was found guilty of two counts of attempted murder yesterday.
The Recorder of London, Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC, adjourned sentencing for reports.
Sir Robert, who sat in the public gallery with his arms folded, showed no emotion as the verdicts were read out. But he sobbed after the jury left the court, removing his glasses to wipe away tears.
Prosecutor Benjamin Aina QC said Sir Robert was “in a very bad way” following the attack, but added: “Fortunately he has recovered.”
He said Tobias French had played professional sport, which had enabled him to keep his balance.
The judge said: “Mr El Hussani showed extraordinary bravery with a complete disregard for his own safety in saving Sir Robert and he is obviously to be commended for that.”
In a statement read to jurors during the trial, Sir Robert said he had been to a pensioners’ lunch in central London before using his freedom pass for his planned journey to Oxford Circus on the Central line.
CCTV footage shows him walking along the platform.
He is then approached from behind by Crossley, who has a hood pulled over his cap, before being sent sprawling on to the tracks.
“As I was walking along the platform I felt a two-handed push to my back,” said Sir Robert.
“I felt myself flying over the tracks and landing on the rails.”
Crossley, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia when he was 17, admitted he was the man wearing a cap and hood caught on CCTV shoving both men.
He told jurors he had taken crack cocaine the previous day and began feeling paranoid.
He denied two charges of attempted murder and an alternative count of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm to Mr French, but pleaded guilty to a wounding charge in relation to the attack on Sir Robert.