TfL events boss drank two bottles of wine before abusing station staff and trying to kick police officer

Westminster station: Where Caroline Murphy, not pictured, was seen staggering before hurling abuse at TfL staff
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A Transport for London events manager abused Tube staff and tried to kick a police officer after she was stopped from boarding a train home for being too drunk, a court heard.

Caroline Murphy, 40, had drunk up to two bottles of red wine before she was seen staggering through Westminster station, dropping her handbag and unable to stand upright.

She hurled abuse at London Underground staff after being denied entry to the Tube and then at police who arrived to deal with her.

Blackfriars crown court heard that Murphy had to be wrestled to the ground, handcuffed and put in leg restraints when she tried to kick a British Transport Police officer. “She was quite clearly very, very drunk,” said prosecutor Sheilagh Davies. “She was abusive to staff and unpleasant. She would be shouting and then crying. She would cry to female members of staff and then called someone a c**t.”

She said Murphy wandered into the Tube station control room and when staff tried to send her home in a taxi, cab drivers refused to stop because she was so drunk.

“One moment, she was shouting abusive words and the next she was crying and trying to hug members of staff, saying, ‘I’m sorry’,” said Ms Davies. She said police were called when TfL staff realised they could not safely send Murphy home, but she turned violent and abusive towards the officers.

“She was so drunk she kept struggling, she had to be taken to the ground but did manage to get a leg clear and kicked out towards the officer.”

When questioned by police the next day, Murphy admitted not being able to remember the incident, sobbing that she “couldn’t understand why she had behaved in this way”.

The court heard that she did not usually drink socially, but had been plied with red wine while viewing a potential venue for a TfL event with a colleague.

Murphy, a married mother of two from Brentford, has already been through an internal disciplinary procedure over the incident in October 2016 and could face the sack because of her conviction.

She pleaded guilty to a public order offence of using threatening, insulting, or abusive words or behaviour. Prosecutors agreed to drop an allegation, which Murphy denied, that she had racially abused a police officer.

Judge Jane Sullivan yesterday ordered Murphy to pay £750 and gave her a 12-month conditional discharge.

“You had been at a work do. You had a bottle or two of wine and that is a lot for someone who does not drink. The staff were quite right not to let you travel on the Tube,” she said. The judge accepted that Murphy was “apologetic” for her behaviour and also heard that she was the main financial provider for her family.

British Transport Police reported more than 1,800 incidents of violence or public disorder in which London rail staff were victims between September 2015 and August 2016.

Transport for London announced an extra £3.4 million for policing when the Night Tube was introduced two years ago, amid fears of a surge in drink-fuelled violence.

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