We’ve heard about iPhone-related crime before, but here’s one that’s new: A U.K. man in London who was arrested by police after charging his iPhone on a train.
45-year-old artist Robin Lee was approached by a police community support officer on board the train last Friday, warned that he was “illegally extracting electricity.” When Lee arrived at his destination, police officers were waiting to arrest him.
According to the police community support officer, sockets on the train are reserved for cleaning staff only.
In a statement, a spokesman for British Transport Police (BTP) said that they had been called to Camden Road London Overground station due to a report of, “a man becoming aggressive when challenged by a PCSO about his use of a plug socket on board an Overground train.”
The actual crime itself was “suspicion of abstracting electricity,” although thankfully Robin Lee was subsequently de-arrested, and let go with just a warning.
We guess the police community support officer in question was an Android user!
Via: Yahoo News
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
46 responses to “Man who charged his iPhone on train arrested for stealing electricity”
Okay folks bring your own air tank and flash lights, you don’t want to get sighted using public lights and air. I can understand him getting in trouble if he broke a cover or lock to gain access to the outlet. If not I don’t see the big deal.
Start making extra fast bucks on your Pay Pal account by freelancing at home… Check it out
Ahh UK, you really do have a Nanny State. Your ancestors would be ashamed.
Nanny? No, but as close to Nazi State as possible.
They can’t be serious. I mean this wasn’t picked up from The Onion, was it?
I was just thinking the same thing.
They were all Nokia 3210 users.
So he took about $.0013 of electricity. Wow they must have nothing to do over there.
If the train was running then the electricity would cost nothing because it is generated from the engine which is not even on the grid (or was it an electric train)? If I am right then you would need an expert scientist to determine how much in cost was actually used which I am guessing is even less than your sum because they would have to calculate the loss in engine power by someone using a socket. Either way seems ridiculous and the authorities should be more concerned about toddlers putting in metal objects and electrocuting themselves.
Maybe it’s time to lock them closed then….
Leave your phones at home people….no need to take them anywhere…I don’t!
You do understand the “mobile” part of mobile phone, right?
This is just sad. In fact all transportation should include plugins for devices for free as a service. Right now on most planes, trains and autos you are out of luck.
There are such electrical sockets in trains all the time, they should put a warning next to them if people aren’t to use them.
They could just put them on a switch and only turn on the power to the outlets during cleanings.
Maybe the train guard was being a bit of a dick, but if Mr Lee was ‘aggressive’ towards him then he deserved to be arrested.
btw. – ‘abstracting’ electricity? ‘de-arrested’? Was this article written by George Bush?
“Aggressive” in this story most likely meant he yelled at the guy and told him that he was being absolutely fucking ridiculous. And he would have been right.
If only the passenger had his handgun with him – he could have shown the guard how fucking ridiculous he has being.
Nonsense. If he was told to stop, there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s not his outlet to use. Becoming aggressive about it, instead of just stopping it, means it’s completely his own fault.
Read the article – he was arrested for being aggressive not for charging his phone. I now it makes a less interesting headline.
Well, they said the arrest was for ” suspicion of extracting electricity”.
Had he just stopped when asked, instead of becoming aggressive, none of it would have happened.
“He was further arrested for unacceptable behaviour and has been reported for this offence.”
That PCSO is a complete TW@T
ScotRail and Virgin actively encourage use of their sockets for charging devices. Perhaps the others do need to clarify the use-conditions or prohibitions. Would’ve loved it if the PCSO had done this on one of these services as they would look completely incompetent (well more than most appear to be).
This appears to be a GMA (Get My Ass) arrest more than anything.
Yeah, police state???? the police there have killed 2 people in 4 years, US police have killed more than 500 this year…Who’s in the police state?????
Hahahahaha brain freeze. Hahahahaha (coffee shot out of nose) Deep inhale…hahahahaha I’m suspending judgment on this issue ha ha ha ha Ha ha NOT ha ha ha ha ha for what was I thinking? You are a arrogant dick. Full Stop!
Oh, right dick, I live in California.
Can you please elaborate on that? What does it even mean to literally rape a culture do death? Why do you think it is civil behaviour to call somebody mentally ill?
Do you have sources to back up your claims?
Oh most high priest of the Cult, I bow to your magnificense and will never, ever make a comment when you mention police state again. I genuflect to your omni presents on all things teck, you are my new tech sensor. I humbley beseech you to never throw the word of my idiocy at me again, BTW you did the name calling first you 5th grader.
“literally” raped.. Oh my – somehow someone or something has sexually penetrated the British culture against its will… this is indeed a heinous crime!
Where was Patti LuPone during all this?
If the socket wasn’t labeled then how was he supposed to know? This is so petty. Oh, yeah, England… Duh!
Lucky this happened outside the US. We would have killed him for stealing our American Electrons.
LMFAO! meanwhile, some terrorist just walked by… COPS are just as stupid all over the world it seems.
And how much worth of electricity did he “steal”? Were there signs posted?
If the story is true, it should be filed under WTF category.
The signs above the sockets clearly state it is not for public use. It’s the principle of using it, rather than the cost of the power he used
dam how many watts u need for charge one iphone =/
Wait, sarcasm works in the internet?
Just to comment. You do not steal electrons or protons in electricity. You get use out of them but no theft. The AC current moves electrons back and forth. It goes thru a transformer which moves my electrons. They are pushed to one side of a battery / capacitor which makes the device charged. As I allow the electrons and Protons to come back to a balanced state, I drain the battery. No electrons belonging to the government are taken (ps, does not apply to a dc charging station. There electrons are TRADED for protons to make a charged state. While its an even trade, you do walk away with govt. electrons. )
Sound like the UK will have to make it legal since if you can’t turn on your iPhone when a inspector comes along to see if you paid your fair with Apple Pay then you get nailed with a full fair. I guess when boarding and disembarking you have to scan as well and if you can’t do that you get to pay full fare.
I thought those plugs were installed for laptops anyway, no big deal.
”We guess the police community support officer in question was an Android user!”
Bravo!
android people are poor, that’s why they always crave for electricity