Botched Translink safety poster defended as ‘way to raise awareness of assaults’

The advert, spotted by the News Letter this week, takes the form of an apparent mock-court report in a newspaper.

This “news article” purports to cover a case of alleged assault against a member of Translink staff.

However the article is gibberish.

Its headline states that the male defendant (it does not call him a “man” for some reason) was let off with a caution.

But then the text of the news report goes on to say that he was actually jailed for five months, not cautioned.

In any case, cautions are administered by police as a way of avoiding the offender coming before a court.

And whilst the news article describes an assault, it goes on to say the male was actually prosecuted for disorderly behaviour – not an assault.

In terms of style the clipping omits the definite article “the” a number of times, and randomly capitalises the words “Incident” and “Conductor” (neither of which are proper nouns), whilst the headline ends with a full stop – all things which make it look still less convincing.

Translink did not confirm whether the news report in the advert related to a real case or not.

Asked how it had managed to get so much wrong in the space of two paragraphs, and how much the advert cost, Translink said simply: “We condemn all anti-social behaviour towards our staff or passengers. These posters provide a snapshot of real cases which resulted in prosecutions. The campaign aims to show the consequences of such anti-social behaviour.

“The posters are displayed at various stations and on-board trains and provide a cost-effective way to raise awareness of these issues.”

Though the botched poster may amuse some travellers, the issue of assaults upon staff is a real one.

Just last month for example, the News Letter reported on the case of a passenger who had appeared at Coleraine Magistrates’ Court accused of punching a train driver and conductor at Coleraine station.

The man admitted two charges of assault, plus being disorderly, and having an offensive weapon – a glass.

He was given a three-month prison term by the district judge (he had bail fixed for an appeal).