Man Arrested After Charging iPhone On London Overground Train

An anonymous reader writes: 45-year-old Robin Lee was arrested after he used a socket on a London Overground train to charge up his iPhone. He was handcuffed and arrested for "abstracting electricity". Robin was then charged with "unacceptable behaviour" after "becoming aggressive" when objecting to his first arrest. The Guardian reports: "Speaking to the Evening Standard, Lee said he had been confronted by a police community support officer on the overground train from Hackney Wick to Camden Road on 10 July. The Overground is part of Transport For London’s wider network that also includes London Underground and the buses. 'She said I’m abstracting electricity. She kept saying it’s a crime. We were just coming into the station and there happened to be about four police officers on the platform. She called to them and said: ‘This guy’s been abstracting electricity, he needs to be arrested’.”

Comments

Tax dollars at work.

[The Rizz]

Yup. Let's spend thousands of dollars worth of man-hours and paperwork and court time over 10 cents worth of electricity.

Re:Tax dollars at work.

[FlyHelicopters]

Forgot about the miniscule amount of energy for a minute. Would it be ok to run an extension cord from an outlet on your porch to power my fan when I get overheated riding my bike near your house?

Yes, that would be fine with me.

My home has several outlets outside, if someone needed to use one for 20 min to charge their phone or run a fan, I couldn't care less.

A knock on the door to ask would be nice, but if I'm not home, I don't care.

The amount of power is trivial and not worth caring about.

There is a principle involved here.

Perhaps, but there is also what is reasonable and polite society to consider.

We're not Vulcan, we're human, and being considerate to each other is a good thing.

iPhone

[dhaen]

Why does nearly every article mention the type of phone?

Would it be any different if he was charging a cheap Nolkia - or even his shaver?

Read TFA

[clickety6]

We were called to Camden Road London Overground station on Friday 10 July to a report of a man becoming aggressive when challenged by a PCSO about his use of a plug socket onboard an Overground train.

While arrest may have been an overreaction, the guy was using a socket clearly marked not for public use and then seems to have become aggressive when asked to unplug his phone. Maybe he needs to look at his own behaviour as well.