TfL apologise to Sky journalist for racial profile ticket check
- Published
Sky News correspondent Shingi Mararike was onboard a DLR train
Transport for London (TfL) has apologised to a journalist who said he was racially profiled by a ticket inspector at a station in east London.
Sky News correspondent Shingi Mararike posted on Twitter he was on a DLR train on Tuesday when a ticket inspector stopped him at Shadwell station.
He said he was told he matched the description of someone who was a "persistent" fare dodger.
Deputy Mayor for Transport Seb Dance said it was "simply unacceptable".
Mr Dance, who replaced Heidi Alexander as deputy mayor for transport in January, urged Mr Mararike to issue a formal complaint and said he would "pursue this as a matter of priority on behalf of the Mayor [of London]".
TfL said it was "deeply concerned" to hear about Mr Mararike's experience and had issued an apology.
In his tweet Mr Mararike said he apparently "matched the description of someone who has 'persistently' dodged the train fare at Shadwell station in east London, including yesterday".
But, Mr Mararike said he was not at the station on the previous day and had been through the station "maybe once this year".
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Mr Mararike wrote: "Yet, a ticket inspector jumped on the train, and stopped it from leaving to check my ticket in front of lots of other people.
"He told me I'd been caught on CCTV dodging the fare more than once.
"So not only did he profile me, but he chose to presume I was guilty. After he checked my ticket, he simply walked off and said, 'it's valid this time'."
He added that he wanted to share his experience to highlight that "this sort of thing happens and, when it does, it is exhausting and unfair".
Tom Page, general manager of the DLR told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he was investigating the matter "urgently" with DLR operator KeolisAmey Docklands.
He added: "We are deeply concerned to hear of Mr Mararike's experience on our network and we apologise for the way he was treated."
Follow BBC London on Facebook, external, Twitter , externaland Instagram, external. Send your story ideas to hellobbclondon@bbc.co.uk, external