Former Eurotunnel chairman Sir Robert Malpas today said “justice has finally been served” after a man who pushed him off a Tube platform was jailed for life.
Paul Crossley, 47, ran up behind Sir Robert at Marble Arch station and sent him tumbling off the platform in a shocking random attack.
Crossley, a paranoid schizophrenic, was detained at the station by members of the public, while a French teacher jumped on to the tracks to rescue Sir Robert, who had suffered a head wound and a broken pelvis.
At the Old Bailey yesterday, Crossley was jailed for life with a 12-year minimum term by Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC.
Retired industrialist Sir Robert told the Evening Standard afterwards: “Justice has been done. Of course, I want to thank everyone who helped me, the teacher, the police, and the courts. Justice has been finally served.”
He had told the court earlier: “I felt myself flying over the tracks and landing on the rails. I have absolutely no idea why anyone I know would do this.”
Only a few minutes earlier, Crossley had tried to kill a second man, professional volleyball player Tobias French, at Tottenham Court Road station. However, thanks to his athleticism, Mr French was able to resist by throwing himself to the ground on the platform instead of falling onto the tracks.
During the sentencing, Judge Hilliard said the attacks should be blamed more on Crossley’s crack cocaine use than his mental ill-health. “You were in a bad and irritable mood because you were experiencing a comedown from taking a very large amount of crack cocaine the day before,” the judge said.
“The moment you saw Sir Robert, you went for him and I am satisfied paranoid schizophrenia was not the driving force here. It was drug abuse and the consequences, and also anger and your natural tendency to aggression.”
Crossley denied two charges of attempted murder at trial but was convicted by a jury. CCTV footage caught both incidents on April 27, starting with the attack on Mr French just after 3pm as he waited for a train.
Riyad El Hussani, who pulled Sir Robert to safety, was awarded £600 by the judge. Each of the three members of the public who helped detain Crossley received £300.
The attacker later told doctors he had suffered from mental health problems since his teenage years, and though on medication he had not received a regular injection in the days before the attack. He also revealed he had decided to go into central London that day after hearing the Pet Shop Boys song West End Girls on the radio, and claimed he had been hearing voices in his head.
Crossley, of Leyton, will receive treatment in a secure hospital until he is well enough to be transferred to prison. It will be up to a Parole Board to assess if he is ever fit to be released.
