AN EDINBURGH student has claimed he is the star of the “no ticket” YouTube sensation.
Sam Main, who is believed to be 19 and studying building surveying at Heriot-Watt University, claimed on his Facebook page that he is the man in the video being hauled off the Edinburgh to Perth train in Linlithgow.
The man who took the video, Ian Hems, said he had spoken to Sam, who lives in Falkirk, and been told that he was getting a lawyer involved.
The vigilante has also been claimed to be a big fan of a certain type of crisp.
Ian, an IT teacher, said: “The big man said said, ‘if I end up in jail because of this, you’ve got to come and bring me a bag of pickled onion Monster Munch in prison.’ That’s pretty much all he said.”
Ian said that the big man, thought to be called Alan, sat downin the alleged far-dodger’s seat and got off the train atStirling.
Ian said he was a ‘strong and silent’ type who made almost no conversation with other passengers, who were chatting about the incident, on the way home.
He reported that the vigilante had a quiet word with the ticket conductor.
Lawyers
“The conductor had a quiet word with him, but I didn’t see much of that. They asked me to stop filming,” he said.
“I think the conductor did everything right. They were arguing for about 10 minutes before I started filming.”
The teacher used a Nokia 5800 phone to film the confrontation.
He said he had been in touch with the young man who was thrown off the train, 19-year-old Heriot-Watt student Sam Main.
Ian, a former Heriot-Watt student himself, said: “They’ve got a big night at the student union on Fridays, so he was coming home from that.
“He thought he could chance a free journey and he thought he could get away. He looked pretty cut.
“I spoke to him on Facebook and he said he was getting lawyers involved.
“He wasn’t giving me grief, if anything he was happy I filmed it.”
But Ian added that a lawyer contacted the conductor and the burly man shortly after the incident.
He said: “A fly-looking lawyer came out of first class and gave his card to the conductor and to the big guy.”
Ian also said the big man blocked a punch from the young student as he manhandled him down the passageway.
He said the off-camera incident led to the men tumbling onto a female passenger’s table, as the video shows.
Mr Hem said the alleged fare-dodger swung at him and the big man caught his hand.
Ian says he is happy with the success of the video, but won’t let it go to his head: “People are leaving hilarious comments.”
“It was the weirdest train journey ever. Me and my friends have had a good giggle about it”
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