An angry Southern Rail commuter who threatened to blow up Southern Rail headquarters was acquitted by a London court.

David Davies, 37, said he was blowing off steam when he sent the email that read: “I hope you call the police. This is not a hoax. I will f***ing bomb your f***ing HQ to f***ing smithereens.”

He also emailed Southern Rail’s chief executive saying he hoped he died a “slow and painful death”. He further said, “I’m being deadly serious, go f***ing die”.

Davies confessed that he wrote the emails in November 2016, as he was frustrated by delays and cancellations on Southern Rail’s services. He however, denied the charge brought against him saying, “I didn’t believe anyone would take it seriously” reported the Evening Standard.

Mr Davies, a financial services worker from Croydon told Blackfriars Crown Court: “It was blowing off some steam. I had reached boiling point, after a long period of time, because of the frustration and pressure that had grown.”

The court ruled in his favor and Davies expressed his relief by saying, “We all know it’s a bad service. I lost the plot in a moment of madness and that’s the end of that.

“I have got no beef with them, they’re just a badly-run company. We all know that I want to put a lid on this as much as possible. It’s an acquittal, thank God for that.”

Commuters are currently experiencing a fresh round of delays and cancellations on South Western Railway (SWR), Northern, Merseyrail and Greater Anglia due to a long-running row between RMT union members and rail bosses over the role of guards. Strikes are ongoing with the next strike date set for Friday 12 January.

By Airport Pickups London