A schizophrenic said he deliberately pushed a 91-year-old former Eurotunnel boss on to tube tracks because he ‘looked old’, a court heard today.
Paul Crossley, 47, shoved Sir Robert Malpas on to the line at Marble Arch underground station in central London last May.
Crossley was found guilty of two counts of attempted murder after he also tried to push another man Tobias French at a nearby station moments earlier.
At his sentencing hearing Benjamin Aina QC, prosecuting, told the Old Bailey: ‘What he told the probation officer is that is that he targeted Sir Robert Malpas, the second victim, because he looked old and less likely to be able to withstand his attack.
‘And he agreed that the attack was deliberate, considerate and targeted behaviour.’
Mr Aina disputed the claim of psychiatrist Dr Anneka John-Kamen that Crossley was suffering from psychosis and paranoia at the time of the attacks.
She stated that Crossley, of Leyton, east London, had told her listening to the song West End Girls by the Petshop Boys had ‘sent’ him to the West End area. She explained his ‘delusions of reference’ was an element of his psychotic symptoms.
Dr John-Kamen said: ‘Yesterday he said it sent me to the West End and previously he said, ‘the song was on and I thought it meant I should go to the West End.’
Referring to another psychiatrist Dr Philip Joseph who also reported on Crossley, Mr Aina said: ‘Dr Joseph asked him, ‘I asked the defendant if he could have pushed a woman or a child on the tracks and he said that he would never have done that.
‘Is somebody who is suffering from psychosis able to show that level of selection? Would you agree that the answer he has given is not indicative of someone who is suffering from psychosis?
‘You seem to be accepting at face value what he says to you.
‘Would you agree now seeing all of this, these matters I’m putting to you now are inconsistent with what was governing, what was controlling his mind so far as paranoia is concerned?’
Sir Robert Malpas, left, said he felt himself ‘flying’ on to the rails at Marble Arch station, after Paul Crossley, right, shoved him from behind with both hands
Earlier, in reference to the Dr John-Kamen’s three reports on Crossley, the judge said that while the song West End Girls had become a ‘factor’ flagged up in the psychiatrists’ reports, other issues including the defendant’s large debts to his drug dealers were ‘other possible factors’.
Paul Crossley, 47, shoved 91-year-old Sir Robert Malpas on to the rails at Marble Arch station in central London on April 27 last year.
Crack addict Crossley told cops afterwards that he’d had ‘no sleep’ after taking £600 worth of the highly addictive drug the previous day.
Sir Robert, who attended the sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey, was saved by teacher Riyah El Hussani who leapt from the platform just one minute before a train was due to arrive.
Earlier Crossley was caught on camera attempting to push another victim on to the tracks. Tobias French managed to keep his balance
Shocking CCTV shows the moment a former Eurotunnel boss was shoved onto the tracks of the London Underground second before a train arrives in the platform
Five psychiatric reports by three doctors were filed on paranoid schizophrenic Crossley after he was found guilty of two counts of attempted murder by a jury.
The second count was for trying to push a second man, Tobias French, on to the tracks at Tottenham Court Road as a train approached.
Tube pusher victim feels guilty for not stopping attacker from striking again
A man who avoided being hit by a tube train by just inches when a paranoid schizophrenic tried to shove him onto the tracks has described his ‘incredible sense of guilt’ when he heard his attacker had struck again.
Tobias French (L) and Sir Robert Malpas at the Old Bailey this morning
Tobias French was making his way home when Paul Crossley, 47, tried to push him onto the rails at Tottenham Court Road station on April 27 last year.
Mr French managed to fight Crossley off – prompting the attacker to flee the scene on the next Central Line train.
Just moments later, Crossley shoved 91-year-old Sir Robert Malpas onto the rails at Marble Arch.
The industrialist, who was knighted by the Queen in 1998, suffered a broken pelvis and a cut to the head which needed 12 stitches.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr French said: ‘I was on my way home. I’d just missed the train before and I was just waiting on the platform – I just felt two hands on my back as someone pushed me towards the tracks.
‘I turned around and he tried to push me again so I just pushed him to the floor and by the time I came to really after shock he was already on the tube going the other way.’
He continued: ‘When I heard he had attacked a second person, incredible guilt set in, because I had the opportunity to stop him at the time.’
He added: ‘I do think I should have stopped him or done more.’
Crossley boarded the train before then attacking Sir Robert at nearby Marble Arch station.
Benjamin Aina QC, prosecuting, said: ‘He pushed Tobias French towards the train tracks as a Central Line train was approaching.
‘The train was about 10 metres away.
‘Mr French was fortunate in that he was able to resist.
‘Mr Crossley then caught a train to Marble Arch station where he pushed Sir Robert Malpas on to the train tracks.’
The court heard Sir Robert was 90-years-old at the time and suffered severe cuts to his head, needing 12 stitches, as well as a fractured pelvis.
Mr Aina said: ‘While Sir Robert was in the pit below the tracks he was bravely assisted by a member of the public, Riyah El Hussani, who jumped down to the tracks.
‘Mr El Hussani received a burn as he touched an electrified track, but again, fortunately, he has recovered from his physical injury.
‘When asked for an explanation for his action by police in his formal interview held the next day, Mr Crossley simply said, ‘I had no sleep’.
‘During the trial, he stated in evidence, he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia when he was 17-years-old.’
Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC said: ‘As far as Sir Robert Malpas is concerned, apart from lacerations to his skull, he had multiple fractures to his right pelvis, and spent a week in hospital.
‘The recovery was long and he described the effect on his life as huge, emotionally and physically.’
The court heard Crossley was given a 10-month suspended jail sentence last January for sexually assaulting a care worker in June 2016 and racially abusing another female care worker for saying he should go to his probation service appointments.
Crossley, of Leyton, east London, also received a two months suspended jail sentence for having a knife in a public place in September 2017.
The sentencing hearing continues.