THE father of “Big Man” Alan Pollock spoke tonight of his relief at the decision not to prosecute his son.
Mr Pollock caused a worldwide sensation after he threw a student off a train following a dispute over an unpaid ticket.
The incident, in December last year, was uploaded to YouTube and has so far been watched at least 2,000,000 times.
Both Mr Pollock, 35, and the student, Sam Main, 19, were charged in connection with the incident.
But the Crown Office revealed tonight (wed) that neither man would be prosecuted.
They said in a statement: “The Procurator Fiscal at Livingston received reports concerning two males aged 35 and 19, in connection with an incident in Linlithgow on Friday 9 December 2011.
“After full and careful consideration of the reports by Crown Counsel, it was decided that it is not in the public interest to prosecute either male and the cases are now closed.”
The Crown Office confirmed that no “direct measures” such as fiscal fines or warnings had been issued against either man.
Content
An elated Jim Pollock, Alan’s father, said: “It’s like the nightmare is over.
“It’s very good news, I’m glad to hear it.
“We don’t have to have this hanging over our heads any more. It’s always in the back of your mind.”
The retired accountant from Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, added: “I’m quite content now that there will be no further action.”
Asked if the almost three-month wait for the decision to be announced had annoyed the family, he said: “We had to wait over Christmas and New Year.
“It’s just the process everyone goes through.”
Jim Pollock strongly backed his son following the incident, saying he raised him to know right from wrong.
Limit
He said at the time: “Do you turn your face the other way when something has happened, if somebody got stabbed in the street?
“It’s very out of character for Alan. He must have been pushed to the limit. I was a wee bit disappointed no one actually got up and helped him.”
He added: “I brought them up to know right from wrong and that’s all my son was doing.”
The video was uploaded to YouTube on 10 December last year.
Filmed by fellow passenger Ian Hems, it shows a swearing youngster, soon identified as Mr Main, refusing to pay for his ticket or get off an Edinburgh to Perth service on Friday night.
He argued with the conductor, Alan Mitchell, 63, for around a minute in the video, although Mr Hems said they were arguing for five or ten minutes before he started filming.
Heavy-set Mr Pollock got up from his seat, grabbed Mr Main and ejected him on to the platform at Linlithgow, West Lothian.
Mr Pollock, from Stirling, twiced stopped the infuriated teenager getting back on the train before returning to his seat, to a round of applause from passengers.
Polarised
Mr Main, a student at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, who sustained cheek and leg injuries in the incident, insisted he was innocent and had been sold the wrong ticket.
Alan Pollock, 35, works for Black Rock, an investment management company in Edinburgh, and has said he has been advised to remain tight-lipped by his solicitor in order to avoid difficulties with his high-flying employers.
The company declined to make any statement on the Crown Office’s decision.
Asked if Mr Pollock still worked for the organisation, the spokeswoman again declined to comment.
Following the announcement that Mr Pollock had been charged, Scottish Conservative justice spokesman David McLetchie argued that prosecution was not the answer.
He said at the time: “This is a case that has polarised opinion across the country and any trial is unlikely to please everyone.
“In all the circumstances, this may be a case where a warning letter to Mr Pollock would suffice and draw a line under the matter.”
