Shocking moment man shoves Tube passenger onto tracks at Oxford Circus station

A homeless man pushed a postman on his way home from work onto Tube tracks.

Brwa Shorsh, 24, who is a Kurdish migrant, shoved stranger Tadeusz Potoczek, 61, at Oxford Circus Underground station in central London on February 3.

Mr Potoczek narrowly missed touching the live rail on the southbound Victoria Line.

He was helped back up to the platform by another passenger, and the driver of an oncoming train has said that ‘if he had been on the track a few seconds later, he would have been killed’, Inner London Crown Court has heard.

Shorsh was found guilty of attempted murder.

He told the court he was ‘angry’ after three women allegedly laughed at him for being homeless and he felt Mr Potoczek had given him a dirty look.

Shorsh said Mr Potoczek had been ‘very disrespectful to me’ and he did not know a train was coming.

He admitted what he did was ‘scary’ but it was not intended to kill.

Brwa Shorsh (top left), 24, shoved Tadeusz Potoczek (top right), 61, at Oxford Circus station (Picture: British Transport Police/PA Wire)

He was helped back onto the platform (Picture: British Transport Police/PA Wire)

Defence counsel Tim Brown told the jury on Wednesday it cannot be disputed that Shorsh pushed Mr Potoczek.

He also said it is clear that the defendant, who was seen smiling in the dock throughout the trial, has shown no remorse for his actions.

But Mr Brown argued that his client did not intend to kill Mr Potoczek, telling the jury: ‘(Shorsh) tells you everything. Exactly the same story. However unattractive, he’s told you ‘I don’t care what you think, there it is’. He has been consistent and always maintained he did not intend to kill him.

‘If he did, why did he not wait for the train to be on top of him? Why not stop him from getting off the tracks to safety?

‘Replace Shorsh with a relative or friend. How sure would you want those 12 people to be that he intended to kill?’

Shorsh had been sleeping rough in England, including inside Tube stations to keep warm, since 2020, the court heard.

During proceedings on Tuesday, prosecutors said the incident was ‘a random piece of violence’ against a man who ‘had done absolutely nothing wrong’.

On why he pushed Mr Potoczek so hard and on to the track, Shorsh said: ‘He made me angry and I hated him.’

Shorsh later told the court: ‘I am sorry for what happened. I did not intend to kill him and I am not a murderer.’

He said in that split second ‘I wanted revenge’.

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