Abusive Metro passengers warned they will be brought to justice after Hebburn man jailed

Abusive Metro passengers have been warned that they will be brought to justice.

Sam Miller, 23, of Caledonian Street, Hebburn, is serving a 10-month sentence for criminal damage and witness intimidation.

Newcastle Crown Court heard Miller tracked down a Tyne and Wear Metro staff member to her home and smashed her living room window and warned another not to give evidence against him.

Bosses are now pledging to bring others to justice, too, if staff or customers are targeted.

Paul Walker, customer service director at DB Regio, which operates Metro on behalf of Nexus, said: “We do not tolerate threatening or abusive behaviour of any kind on Metro, whether directed towards our staff or our customers.

“We will actively pursue any incidents of this nature by working with the police to ensure that those responsible are held to account.”

Miller was jailed following an incident on November 20, 2015.

The court heard he had been asked to leave a train on October 30 because he did not have a ticket.

The same member of staff was woken by the sound of her front window being smashed at 2.05am on November 20.

Michael Bunch, prosecuting, said: “She was able to see that a rock had been used to smash the living room window.”

Miller is notorious among Tyne and Wear Metro staff for travelling on trains without a ticket.

The court heard that he had previously set up an online campaign to ‘sort out the Metro’, in which he aired his complaints about the service.

In a separate incident he intimidated another travel enforcement officer who had testified against him in the past.

He told her: “If you testify against me you are my next victim.”

Following the window smashing in November 2015, Metro staff spoke about the incident, and believed they had an idea of who the culprit was.

When one of them spotted Miller and asked him about it, the court heard Miller replied: “I put her windows out.”

Miller pleaded guilty both charges.

Miller, who was jailed in 2013 for his part in the derby day violence involving Newcastle United and Sunderland fans at a derby fixture between the teams, was given a 10 month prison sentence.

He was also made the subject of a two-year behaviour order preventing him from entering Metro premises.