Drone catches teenagers firing slingshots at trains in County Durham

Northern says firing projectiles at trains is "reckless". Credit: PA Images

Police officers have used drones to identify teenagers who were caught firing slingshots at trains on a County Durham railway line.

Rail operator Northern says a number of its trains were damaged over the space of a week in July when they were hit with projectiles.

After requesting support from Network Rail and British Transport Police, drones were used to identify some of those responsible.

Officers spoke to them about the dangers of their actions and took their personal details.

No further slingshot incidents have been recorded since, according to Northern's crime reduction team.

Inspector Mary-Anne Snowden, from British Transport Police, said: “Throwing objects at moving trains is hugely dangerous and an incredibly irresponsible thing to do.

“We continue to work with our industry partners to prevent incidents like these and identify those who are responsible.

"Mindless acts of vandalism like this can have potentially fatal consequences, which is why we take every incident seriously.

“Drones have demonstrated their effectiveness in tackling a variety of incidents through proactive and reactive flights across the network giving officers a bird's-eye view of any criminality on the railway.”

Jason Wade, regional director for Northern, said: “We would like to thank the BTP officers who tracked down the perpetrators and stopped them from targeting our services.

“We cannot tolerate reckless behaviour which puts the safety of our customers and train crew at risk.

"The consequences of a projectile hitting a train travelling at speed are potentially devastating."

In December, Northern said the number of dangerous attacks on its trains was down almost 90 per cent on the previous 12 months.

It has also installed a further 600 CCTV cameras to monitor its stations, as well as 7,000 on its fleet of trains and 1,300 body-worn cameras for its staff.

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