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Channel 4 news presenter Cathy Newman 'threatened on train after asking youth to stop dropping chicken bones'

Threatened: Ms Newman told Twitter followers how she was subjected to verbal abuse and threats with violence after finishing work on Saturday: Channel 4
Threatened: Ms Newman told Twitter followers how she was subjected to verbal abuse and threats with violence after finishing work on Saturday: Channel 4

Channel 4 news presenter Cathy Newman has told how she was threatened by a young man on a train after he repeatedly dropped chicken bones on the carriage floor.

Ms Newman told Twitter followers a man called her a "f****** b****" and threatened to punch her in the face during the menacing encounter on a Thameslink service on Saturday evening from Sutton to Farringdon.

The journalist was travelling home after she finished her 6.30pm bulletin when the passenger began littering fast food yards from her, which caused her “blood to boil”.

In a series of tweets posted on her Twitter account along with a picture of the discarded bones, Ms Newman wrote: “A kid on the train chucks this on the floor & when I ask him who's going to pick it up he calls me a "f****** b****".

“He threatened to punch me in the face too...”

She later reported the encounter to British Transport Police and told followers she refrained from taking a picture of the man as she suspected he was a teenager.

British Transport Police said it had launched a probe to identify the man and condemned the behaviour as “totally unacceptable”.

But when contacted by the Standard, a spokeswoman said the presenter had said she wished not to take the matter any further.

Ms Newman confirmed her decision when approached.

Social media users described Ms Newman as brave for challenging the man while many flooded her with supportive messages in the wake of the incident.

In response to one who asked if she was ok, she said: “The train was quite busy so I felt safe. The first two bits he dropped I ignored but felt my blood boiling on the third.”

Jan Davies ‏wrote: "@cathynewman brava Cathy - need more staff on trains to deal with anti-social behaviour."

Julian Branscombe ‏tweeted: "@cathynewman well done for making the point, nonetheless. Very sad response."

A Thameslink spokesman: "We're sorry to hear about Cathy's experience and thank her for reporting it. This was a particularly unpleasant and aggressive act that no-one should have to suffer.

“We recently introduced a team of rail enforcement officers to supplement British Transport patrols and help combat just this sort of behaviour.

“The BTP also has a text number, 61016, that passengers can use to discreetly report anything they see."