THE man who shot the YouTube video showing a student being manhandled off a ScotRail train has had to go ex-directory after receiving prank calls.
Ian Hems's video had attracted nearly two million views as of yesterday. It has made headlines across Britain and further afield and has also sparked a debate about the extent of citizen-power.
The video shows 19-year-old Sam Main apparently being lifted from his seat and physically ejected from the Edinburgh to Perth ScotRail service after he swore at a train conductor.
Alan Pollock – a 30-year-old finance manager dubbed the "big man" online – intervened after the teenager refused to leave the train at Linlithgow, then blocked his attempt to re-enter the carriage and eventually sat down to cheers from other passengers.
Mr Hems captured the action on his Nokia mobile phone and uploaded it to YouTube. But he did not expect the video to go viral and become an internet hit.
The 27-year-old IT teacher, said ruefully yesterday: "If you ever upload a film to YouTube, don't put your actual name on it. I've had to phone BT and go ex-directory because my phone has gone red-hot from about five in the morning with prank calls.
"I was only there [on the train] and filmed it. Big deal. What's the problem? I'm not the star of this show. I don't get why people are getting at me on this one."
It was only the day after he posted the video online, when it made the front page of Reddit, a popular news website featuring user-generated content, that Mr Hems realised how popular it was becoming.
He admits to being slightly baffled by the fuss and said: "I don't really get what it's all about, to be honest."
Speaking about the incident yesterday, Mr Hems – who has been interviewed by British Transport Police – said he was sitting bored on the train, "mucking around with the phone", when it started.
He said: "I started filming purely because the train conductor had gone backwards and had stopped the train after checking everyone's tickets.
"There was a bit of abuse going on. I thought the transport police were about to come and throw the student off the train.
"I was thinking it was going to be funny, but I didn't expect the big man to step up like that. It has caused a bit of a stir.
"I'm firmly on the big man's side because he did what everyone wanted to be done."
Mr Hems added: "Sam is basically saying that he tried to explain, and wasn't given a chance to explain [about the ticket]. But he was given lots of time to explain.
"He was just being offensive - He could have avoided it if he'd just got a ticket. He got a taxi home afterwards. He clearly had money."
Mr Hems said that after the incident everybody "took their headphones off, and started chatting". He added: "I've never been on a train journey where everyone starts talking to each other - it was very weird.
"Most folk were on the side of [Alan Pollock]. It was the right thing to do. The conductor was pretty much in shock."
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