WOKEN up by a ticket inspector while travelling home on the train a man turned violent when it turned out he didn’t have the right sort of ticket.

Pawel Grzybowski of Avenue Road, Southampton, pleaded guilty to one charge of assault against the ticket inspector dating from August 14 of last year when he came before magistrates sitting in Swindon on Wednesday.

The court heard from prosecutor Vyvyan Thatcher that 33-year-old Grzybowski had been on a First Great Western train from Swindon heading to Southampton with another man when the offence had occurred.

When the train arrived in Westbury at around 5pm he had to change services on to a rail replacement bus service, which prompted the ticket inspector to wake him up and ask to check his ticket.

“The inspector explained that these tickets were not valid and the defendant then approached the ticket inspector, clenched his fist and raised it to within a few centimetres of the inspector’s face. He held it in that position for about five seconds, looking very, very angry,” said Mr Thatcher.

“The inspector describes himself as physically shaking with fear. The second man who the inspector had originally spoken to then pulled the defendant off and that effectively was the end of the matter. The second man asked for his tickets back and they went to the bus shelter and consumed more alcohol. The inspector describes them both as being drunk.

“The offence of common assault is not an offence where physical contact has taken place, but the victim of the matter feared that he was going to be assaulted.”

Defending him, Wayne Hardy explained that although the incident had unfolded in August of last year Grzybowskih had not actually been interviewed by the British Transport Police until December.

“In his interview he accepted his behaviour was stupid and that it was his fault,” he said. “Whilst he didn’t physically assault the injured party he appears to have raised his fist which put the person in fear of immediate harm. There is some information to suggest he was shouting in Polish, which the injured party would not have understood.

“He tells me he hasn’t touched alcohol since this incident.”

Grzybowski appeared in custody before the magistrates having been arrested in Southampton and brought to Swindon for this latest hearing. He had previously been arrested and taken to court on March 22 for the hearing after he missed his day in court at Chippenham Magistrates’ Court on February 18. But there was no Polish interpreter in court that day so matters were adjourned to be heard at Salisbury Magistrates’ Court on April 1, which he failed to attend.

Mr Hardy told the court that as there had been no interpreter in court his client had not been able to follow proceedings and was not aware when he was next due in court, which prompted him to miss his date in Salisbury.

Chairman of the bench Jonathan Chappell agreed not to proceed with the charge of failing to attend, despite believing that as Grzybowski had been legally represented there was no way he would have left court in any doubt of when he was next due in court. But he conceded that Grzybowski would enter a not guilty plea to the charge and it would not be in the public interest to pursue that charge to a trial.

Instead Grzybowski was ordered to pay a fine of £400 along with Crown Prosecution Service costs of £85. He must also pay £150 compensation to his victim.

“It was a rather silly outburst that has become quite costly. The gentleman was only doing his job, he didn’t deserve to be threatened.”