A Metro passenger was left with facial fractures after being set upon in a row over Covid masks.
The victim was travelling from Newcastle Central Station when three men got on at Pelaw on the afternoon of Sunday May 2 last year. None were wearing masks, despite passengers being encouraged to do so and James Rutherford was swigging from a can of beer.
A court heard the victim politely asked if the trio were exempt from wearing masks. Rutherford claimed one of them had COPD and said Covid was not real and the victim said he wore a mask despite having asthma. He was then subjected to violence on the train in Jarrow.
