A homeless man has been convicted of attempted murder for pushing a postman onto live Tube tracks at Oxford Circus in London. Video / British Transport Police
A homeless man has been found guilty of attempted murder after pushing a postman on to a London Tube track for giving him a “dirty look”.
Brwa Shorsh, 24, shoved stranger Tadeusz Potoczek, 61, into the path of an oncoming train at Oxford Circus station, in central London, on February 3.
Although he denied trying to kill him, Shorsh admitted he did it for “revenge” because the postal worker gave him a “dirty look”.
CCTV footage of the incident shows Potoczek, who was on his way home from work, walking along the platform towards where Shorsh was sitting on a bench.
Shorsh then rose to his feet and shoved the postman, sending him tumbling over the platform edge and on to the tracks, in what the Inner London Crown Court heard was “a random piece of violence” against a man who “had done absolutely nothing wrong”.
Potoczek managed to stay on his feet and narrowly missed touching the live rail on the southbound Victoria Line. The lights of an oncoming train could be seen from the platform but Robert Walker, the train’s experienced driver, spotted Potoczek, who was wearing a bright red jacket, and hit the emergency brake.
Shorsh pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempted murder but was found guilty by a jury after 32 minutes of deliberation. Photo / British Transport Police
With the train approaching at 61km/h, the postman was helped back on to the platform by another person with seconds to spare.
Walker said that “if he had been on the track a few seconds later, he would have been killed”, the Inner London Crown Court heard.
Kurdish migrant Shorsh, who had been sleeping rough in England since 2020, pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempted murder and also denied an alternative count of attempted grievous bodily harm. However, he was found guilty by a jury after 32 minutes of deliberation.
Justice Kelleher told the defendant: “You have been found guilty of attempted murder, which is a very serious offence, and a long prison sentence will follow”.
Asked why he had pushed Potoczek, Shorsh previously said: “He made me angry and I hated him”. He told the court that he “wanted revenge”.
The defendant had told the court he was “angry” after three women allegedly laughed at him for being homeless and he felt Potoczek had given him a dirty look.
Shorsh said Potoczek had been “very disrespectful to me” and he did not know a train was coming. He admitted that what he did was “scary”, but it was not intended to kill.
Sam Barker, prosecuting, asked Shorsh: “You pushed a man in front of a train for looking at you. Do you think that was an appropriate reaction?”
Shorsh replied: “It was scary what I did”. On whether Potoczek deserved this treatment, Shorsh said: “No, I can’t say it was right”.
After being shoved onto the tracks, Potoczek said he feared he would lose his life. Photo / British Transport Police
Potoczek has said he did not say anything to Shorsh at any time.
Shorsh later told the court: “I am sorry for what happened. I did not intend to kill him and I am not a murderer.”
Asked how he felt after the stranger pushed him onto the Tube track, Potoczek said he feared he would “lose my life”. He added: “I recognised that stopping a train is not like stopping a bike”.
Oliver Matthews, the commuter who came to Potoczek’s rescue, said in a statement read to the court: “I was very shocked and I rushed over to the platform. I took hold of [Potoczek] and pulled him back onto the platform. I situated myself between them to make sure that [Shorsh] didn’t try anything else.”
In his statement, the train driver said: “I was shaken very badly by this. If he had been on the track a few seconds later, he would have been killed. Also, if I had looked away for a few seconds he would have been killed. I am very glad I managed to stop the train.”
