Yobs threw a brick from a railway bridge, smashing a train driver's cab window
The vandals struck at about 7.30pm yesterday above the railway line at Braintree Road in Witham.
The incident has left rail users' groups and the emergency services reeling with the thought of what the result might have been.
Transport police are hunting the culprits and appeal for anybody who saw what happened to come forward.
Nobody was hurt in the incident but a spokesman for the British Transport Police said it could have been much more serious.
He warned that anyone convicted of throwing objects towards trains faced life imprisonment. The brick struck the driver's window as the 7.22pm service passed under the Braintree Road bridge in Witham.
David Bigg, chairman of the Witham and Braintree Rail Users' Association, said: "Thankfully the incidents are relatively rare but I'm sure there will be concern from passengers when they find out about this."
Anybody with information about the incident should contact British Transport Police on 01473 693234.
Published Friday January 2, 2004
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