Mum barricades kids in waiting room as knife attack unfolds at train station

Get the latest Daily Record breaking news on WhatsApp

Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info

Join us on WhatsApp

A mum-of-two was forced to barricade her children in a waiting room as a knife attack unfolded at a train station.

Ronald Whelan, a father whose son is a professional footballer, left another passenger bleeding profusely from his hand after he brandished a knife following a dispute over a bag left on a seat.

The grandfather has since described the incident as the "worst mistake he has ever made". A witness, who fled the scene with her young daughters in a pram, later assisted the victim by using her scarf to stem the bleeding.

Liverpool Crown Court heard this week how the altercation began when Muhammed Uddin boarded a Southport-bound train at Liverpool South Parkway with his bag placed next to him on a spare seat. When Whelan entered the carriage, an argument ensued over the bag.

CCTV footage showed Whelan sitting next to Uddin, who then moved to another part of the carriage after allegedly calling Whelan a "d***head". Whelan, who has no fixed address, then exited the train ahead of Uddin

.

Prosecutor Philip Clemo described how Whelan was seen passing through a gate directly in front of Uddin, before pulling out a knife and making a "lunging motion" towards him. Uddin responded by grabbing the six-inch blade, resulting in a cut to his hand, reports the Liverpool Echo.

The court was told that another passenger, Megan Rimmer, "barricaded herself and her two babies in a waiting room until she was sure the defendant had gone" before rushing to help Mr Uddin, applying pressure to his wound. The incident, which Mr Clemo said occurred "took place in the shadow of the Southport killings" only days earlier, caused "considerable distress".

Ms Rimmer previously shared with the ECHO: "I was getting the train back from town with my two little girls, who are five and three. When you get off, there's a little gate by the car park where there's a little bit of a bottleneck if it's quite busy. As they were going through, he just turned round out of nowhere. There was no altercation, nothing happened, he just turned round and lunged at him with a knife."

"Muhammed put his hand out, so the knife went into his hand and there was just blood everywhere. He just started shouting 'he's got a knife, he's got a knife'. I just turned round the pram with my daughters in, went into the waiting room, shoved them into the waiting room and stood barricaded across the door in case the knife guy came that way, but he didn't."

Join the Daily Record's WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.

"There wasn't any altercation in the build up. Muhammed was in shock afterwards. I didn't see anything. They were just going through the same gate and the white guy just turned round and lunged at him with a knife."

A man who witnessed the incident described the scene: "By the time I'd put my girls into the waiting room and made sure the guy with the knife was going nowhere near them, everyone else had just cleared off. There was one girl who stayed in the waiting room but didn't go anywhere near for a few minutes, but everyone else just left."

"He was just stood there with blood pouring out of his hand. It looked really bad and there was blood everywhere. I had a keffiyeh scarf on my head, so I took that one off and wrapped it round his hand and was telling him to squeeze it to try and stop the bleeding. He called 999 straightaway. I felt really horrified about it to be honest, and just sad and scared. It was really upsetting, I didn't expect that. No one expects it in their area."

In a statement read out to the court on his behalf, Mr Uddin detailed how he had suffered from sleeping difficulties and nightmares since the attack. He also outlined how he had been forced to give up his job due to his newfound fear of taking public transport, adding: "I keep replaying the attack over and over in my mind."

"I find myself thinking about it constantly. I fear that the flashbacks will never go away and it is something I will have to put up with."

Whelan was arrested five days after the assault as he entered a gym. This led to him being alerted to the NCA, being a "wanted man in France in relation to the importation of over 100kg of high purity cocaine from Colombia".

After being released from custody, where he was held on remand since the assault, he is expected to be detained again and appear before Westminster Magistrates' Court for extradition proceedings. Whelan insists he "felt threatened" by the victim.

Louise Santamera, his defence lawyer, informed the court that her client is a married father-of-two with one grandchild, and one of his sons is a professional footballer. She stated: "He unequivocally accepts that he should not have done what he did. He found it very difficult to understand why he had followed him off the train."

"The complainant appears at his shoulder on the platform and mutters to him. He maintains that he did what he did to frighten the complainant away from him. He did not want to cause him any injury."

Ms Santamera also commented on Mr Uddin's conduct on the train: "He was observed by others making offensive remarks. The defendant does not react to this. I observe the complainant looking across at the defendant on a number of occasions."

"The defendant has said to me that it is the worst mistake he has made. He accepts that he misjudged the situation and makes no excuse for his behaviour that day."

Whelan pleaded guilty to wounding without intent and possession of a bladed article in a public place.

Appearing in the dock on Monday, dressed in a light grey fleece and with grey hair, he received a 15-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months, along with 150 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 25 days.

During sentencing, Recorder Ben Douglas-Jones KC stated: "It is most fortunate for you that he was not injured further. There is no suggestion at all that he was threatening you. However, I accept that you felt threatened by his presence and the fact that he was close to you."

He added, "That is why you drew the knife and acted in the way that is seen on CCTV. That is no excuse for what you did, but it is an explanation. I bear in mind your age and the fact that you have been out of trouble with the police for 40 years or so. It is extremely sad to see you back before the court all these years later."

Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.

Story SavedYou can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.