Shane Singh says an epileptic seizure caused him to attack two men at a London train station, an incident he says was deeply humiliating because he could do nothing to stop it from happening
“It made me feel like a crook,” Shane Singh recalls. “I was sitting crying outside the courtroom, but my dad said there was nothing I could do about it. I was just so embarrassed.”
Shane was 22 years old when, on June 17, 2017, he was convicted of trespassing on the track at Ealing Broadway station and fined £1,000 following a string of incidents he claims were caused by a seizure. A fortnight before, on May 27, Shane had tried to grab a phone from a fellow passenger at the West London station, putting him in a headlock and fighting off another man who had tried to intervene.
When police officers boarded the train to arrest Shane, he jumped onto the electrical track and crossed to the opposing platform. Despite how it appears, Shane claims he had no control over his actions in that moment due to a rare drug-resistant form of epilepsy called tuberous sclerosis complex, which is caused by a brain tumour he has had since birth.
“I was first diagnosed with epilepsy when I was 12,” Shane said, “I get these absent-minded seizures, which would mostly be me just standing up, taking things out of my pocket and then chucking them on the floor. They can also happen mid-conversation. A lot of people wouldn’t know I was having a seizure.
“When the police showed up at Ealing Broadway, I was seen being confused, walking up the platform and wetting myself. Beforehand, I was in a confused state, saying ‘please call the police’, as it’s in my medical records that I suffer from post-seizure anger caused by my brain recovering.”
Shane was charged with two counts of common assault, which were later dropped, but he was still convicted of trespassing on the track.
The incident has left him feeling both embarrassed and worried that it could happen again. “I’m scared to use [public transport] because I don’t know if I’m going to have a seizure,” Shane said, “The whole thing has caused so much post-traumatic stress, and I’m really sorry for the pain I caused the victims. But it wasn’t my fault, I didn’t have control of what was happening.”
Some 11 years on from the incident, Shane is living in a property in Hayes where he gets round-the-clock support from carers. He still suffers from seizures frequently, and two months ago ended up in Hillingdon Hospital after experiencing 10 in quick succession.
This caused him to again suffer post-seizure anger, and he became violent towards a nurse while he was unconscious. Shane says things have become more manageable in a controlled environment where the staff have specialist training, but still finds things tough.
“Epilepsy has ruined my life, it’s made me so depressed,” Shane said, “I spent most of my teenage years just crying. The fact that it’s caused by a brain tumour that they can’t do anything about is very difficult. My life has just been destroyed.
“I still think about what happened at Ealing Broadway station every week. I had no control over my actions, and now I’m left with a criminal record.”
The Courts and Tribunals Service were contacted for comment.
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