Man spared jail after trying to walk more than 30 miles home along train tracks

A man tried to walk more than 30 miles home - along train tracks - after a row with his girlfriend.

Callum Edwards was spared jail after attempting to trek from Briton Ferry to Fairwater while dodging oncoming trains.

Services on the busy South Wales main railway line were stopped for more than three hours by the 25-year-old in July last year.

Callum Edwards would later tell police he didn't know how to get home to Cardiff from his partner's house in Briton Ferry, but knew that the tracks went that way.

After he was spotted heading east on the tracks, all trains were stopped between Port Talbot and Bridgend and police mounted a search operation to find him. After some three-and-a-half hours, the 25-year-old was found by officers hiding in track-side bushes.

A judge told Edwards his actions had been "wholly irresponsible" and had caused huge disruption for passengers.

He has now been sentenced to six months in prison suspended for two years, and ordered to complete a rehabilitation course and to abide by a three-month nightly curfew.

Hannah George, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that at around 11.15am on July 3 last year, British Transport Police received reports of a man on the railway line near Baglan station who was heading towards Port Talbot. As a result of the information all services were suspended between Port Talbot and Bridgend stations, and officers began a search operation.

The court heard Edwards was eventually located hiding in bushes beside the tracks some two miles east of Port Talbot, and was arrested.

In his subsequent interview the defendant said he had been at his girlfriend's house in Briton Ferry but had argued with her, and wanted to go home to Cardiff. He said he hadn't known the way to Cardiff but knew the railway tracks went that way so decided to walk home. He said he had had suicidal thoughts while walking home but had hid in the bushes when trains approached - he estimated "at least" five trains had passed him while he was walking.

Callum Edwards, of Firs Avenue, Fairwater, Cardiff, had previously pleaded guilty to obstructing an engine using a railway - contrary to the Malicious Damage Act 1861 - when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. The court heard that, unlikely for many offences, there are no sentencing guidelines for obstructing an engine but it carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison.

Edwards has six previous convictions for seven offences, and at the time of the track incident was subject to a community order imposed by magistrates in Cardiff in October 2020 for sending a series of abusive messages to a former partner.

Hywel Davies, for Edwards, said it was clear from a pre-sentence report and from his conversations with the defendant that he had not appreciated the risks or seriousness of what he decided to do. The barrister said there had been no malice or intent to cause disruption in his client's actions but it had been the result of "sheer stupidity and flawed logic". He added that Edwards was currently living a "stable but fragile" life, and had shared custody of his two young daughters.

Judge Paul Thomas QC told Edwards that what he had done on the day in question was "wholly irresponsible", and had caused huge inconvenience and disruption for a large number of people. He said the pre-sentence report on the defendant was a "mixed" one but that the Probation Service had concluded it could continue to work with him.

Judge Thomas told the defendant he had avoided immediate custody "by the skin of your teeth", and he warned him that if he committed any offence in the next two years he would be brought back to court and sent straight to prison.