Latest news with #Wynter
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Yahoo
Woman punched on Tube 'failed by emergency system'
A woman who was attacked on a Tube train in central London has said she was then left standing on a platform for a "harrowing" 30 minutes because no one answered the emergency calls she made from a help point. Sally Wynter said she had been left traumatised after being punched by a stranger on a busy Victoria line train on 27 March, but her attacker was able to get away because she could not raise the alarm. Ms Wynter has written to Sir Sadiq Khan - who has overall responsibility for the Tube network - describing the intercom system as a failure and urging him to "fix it now". City Hall has apologised, saying it was unacceptable her calls were not answered and an investigation had begun. Ms Wynter told BBC London that as her train had approached Green Park station at about 16:30 GMT, she "suddenly felt a punch to the right side of my right arm". "I was pushed into the glass by a stranger that I hadn't seen before," she said, adding her attacker then got off the train. When she got off the Tube at the next stop, Oxford Circus, she was "in shock" and pressed the emergency button on the platform's intercom "at least four times", expecting a member of staff to respond and then try to stop the assailant. She said when she received no response, she had tried to contact British Transport Police (BTP), but could not get an urgent response. She then called 999 and was re-directed to BTP, but gave up and left, she added. BTP said officers attended the station after being made aware of the incident and conducted a search for the victim. As they could not find her at the station, a telephone statement was arranged for later in the evening. The force added that a man from south London was later arrested and bailed in connection with the assault. It was later reported to police that a child had been attacked at Green Park station shortly after the assault on Ms Wynter, by a man of the same description. Ms Wynter said she believed it was the same attacker and the second assault could have been prevented if her calls had been answered. Help points, which include a fire alarm and buttons to call for assistance and for in an emergency, are installed across the Tube network. Ms Wynter said her situation highlighted that the system failed to help passengers in need, which she said was "very dangerous". "There's a variety of reasons people use these points and it's quite clear to me that the way these help points are set up is antiquated - these systems don't integrate properly into the campaign around what people should do." She added: "I was lucky in the sense that I was away from my attacker but it could have been so much worse. "It's an urgent problem that needs to be addressed. " In a letter to Ms Wynter, London's Deputy Mayor for Transport, Seb Dance, said passengers on TfL's network "deserved to feel safe" and have "confidence that if things do go wrong, help is always available". Mr Dance added he was "deeply saddened" about what happened and invited Ms Wynter for a meeting. In a statement, TfL said: "We are investigating as a matter of urgency why Ms Wynter did not get the help she should have and have reached out to her to offer support." Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to Rise in reports of violence against women on transport TfL offers bystander awareness training over abuse Transport for London The Mayor of London British Transport Police
Telegraph
02-04-2025
- Telegraph
‘I was punched on the Tube but TfL failed to help me'
A woman who was assaulted on the London Underground has claimed she could not get help because a station help point was not working. Sally Wynter said she was punched on the Victoria Line at Green Park station last Thursday. Nobody answered her call when she tried to use a help point to speak to the station's control centre and contact the police, Ms Wynter said. 'I was on my phone standing to the side of the doors,' she said. 'A bunch of people got off, maybe eight or nine people. I didn't see anyone before I felt someone punch me in the side of the arm and knock me with that same fist into the glass [partition]. 'I screamed out once I sort of got myself together, I was like 'What the f--- did you just do? You f-----g hit me!'' She said she asked passengers if anyone had seen the man assault her, but that bystanders did that 'very British thing' with just one person 'mumbling'. 'People waiting to get on definitely saw it happen,' she added. 'But unfortunately, no one came up to me. That's the bystander effect in reality.' She got off the train and pressed the emergency button at Green Park station. 'Basically that help [point] was not manned, so the intercom never connected. I pressed it about four times,' Ms Wynter said, explaining that she eventually gave up and went upstairs to the ticket office where she could get mobile phone signal. 'I was there for about half an hour while I was on the phone to the police. There were basically multiple failings,' she continued. 'It puts people's lives in danger because it's funnelling towards something that isn't very helpful and might not even be the right thing, to be honest.' Now the startup entrepreneur has called for Sir Sadiq Khan, who oversees Transport for London (TfL) in his role as Mayor of London, to investigate why the help point failed to work – and to audit the thousands of help points dotted around the capital's rail network. She added that she had 'not heard from Sadiq Khan yet', despite making public calls on LinkedIn and TikTok for the Mayor to contact her. TfL commissioner apologises However, she said that Andy Lord, the TfL commissioner, has emailed her to apologise for the handling of the incident. Last year, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) opened an investigation into the 4,500 help points on the mainline rail network across the country. The regulator said in November that 'not all station operators have systems and processes in place to reliably operate their help points, or reliably answer calls from them', adding that a quarter of help points were not working when inspected. TfL said in a 2020 freedom of information (FOI) response that its platform help points typically called a phone in the station office. If the call is not answered within '30 seconds or so' it is diverted to the London Underground Control Centre (LUCC). 'When an emergency call is diverted to the LUCC, it is presented in our priority queue as an emergency call and they are answered within a few seconds. Typically, this would be within two to three rings,' said the FOI response, which was published on TfL's website. Siwan Hayward, TfL's director for security, policing and enforcement, said the transport authority was 'investigating as a matter of urgency' why Ms Wynter did not receive immediate help. 'Safety is our top priority and we are truly sorry for the experience that Ms Wynter had seeking help at one of our stations,' said Ms Hayward. 'It must have been very distressing and it should not have happened. 'Everyone should feel safe when travelling on our network. If anyone is a victim or witness of a crime they should be able to access help and support straight away. We train our staff to support customers and to help report incidents to the police.' A spokesman for the Mayor of London said: 'The Mayor's thoughts are with Sally Wynter following the incident she experienced on the London Underground last week. Everyone should be and feel safe in London. The British Transport Police are investigating and an arrest has been made. The Mayor urges anyone with information to get in touch with them. 'All passengers who use the TfL network deserve to be and feel safe, with complete confidence that if things do go wrong, help is always available. In most cases, TfL staff serve Londoners incredibly well, taking deep pride in delivering an excellent service and supporting customers when needed, including in complex and sometimes distressing situations.'
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Yahoo
‘I was punched on the Tube but TfL failed to help me'
A woman who was assaulted on the London Underground has claimed she could not get help because a station help point was not working. Sally Wynter said she was punched on the Victoria Line at Green Park station last answered her call when she tried to use a help point to speak to the station's control centre and contact the police, Ms Wynter said. 'I was on my phone standing to the side of the doors,' she said.'A bunch of people got off, maybe eight or nine people. I didn't see anyone before I felt someone punch me in the side of the arm and knock me with that same fist into the glass [partition].'I screamed out once I sort of got myself together, I was like 'What the f--- did you just do? You f-----g hit me!'' She said she asked passengers if anyone had seen the man assault her, but that bystanders did that 'very British thing' with just one person 'mumbling'.'People waiting to get on definitely saw it happen,' she added. 'But unfortunately, no one came up to me. That's the bystander effect in reality.' Credit: TikTok/ @Sallyhooha She got off the train and pressed the emergency button at Green Park station. 'Basically that help [point] was not manned, so the intercom never connected. I pressed it about four times,' Ms Wynter said, explaining that she eventually gave up and went upstairs to the ticket office where she could get mobile phone signal.'I was there for about half an hour while I was on the phone to the police. There were basically multiple failings,' she continued.'It puts people's lives in danger because it's funnelling towards something that isn't very helpful and might not even be the right thing, to be honest.' Now the startup entrepreneur has called for Sir Sadiq Khan, who oversees Transport for London (TfL) in his role as Mayor of London, to investigate why the help point failed to work – and to audit the thousands of help points dotted around the capital's rail network. She added that she had 'not heard from Sadiq Khan yet', despite making public calls on LinkedIn and TikTok for the Mayor to contact her. However, she said that Andy Lord, the TfL commissioner, has emailed her to apologise for the handling of the incident. Last year, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) opened an investigation into the 4,500 help points on the mainline rail network across the regulator said in November that 'not all station operators have systems and processes in place to reliably operate their help points, or reliably answer calls from them', adding that a quarter of help points were not working when said in a 2020 freedom of information (FOI) response that its platform help points typically called a phone in the station office. If the call is not answered within '30 seconds or so' it is diverted to the London Underground Control Centre (LUCC).'When an emergency call is diverted to the LUCC, it is presented in our priority queue as an emergency call and they are answered within a few seconds. Typically, this would be within two to three rings,' said the FOI response, which was published on TfL's Hayward, TfL's director for security, policing and enforcement, said the transport authority was 'investigating as a matter of urgency' why Ms Wynter did not receive immediate help.'Safety is our top priority and we are truly sorry for the experience that Ms Wynter had seeking help at one of our stations,' said Ms Hayward. 'It must have been very distressing and it should not have happened.'Everyone should feel safe when travelling on our network. If anyone is a victim or witness of a crime they should be able to access help and support straight away. We train our staff to support customers and to help report incidents to the police.' A spokesman for the Mayor of London said: 'The Mayor's thoughts are with Sally Wynter following the incident she experienced on the London Underground last week. Everyone should be and feel safe in London. The British Transport Police are investigating and an arrest has been made. The Mayor urges anyone with information to get in touch with them.'All passengers who use the TfL network deserve to be and feel safe, with complete confidence that if things do go wrong, help is always available. In most cases, TfL staff serve Londoners incredibly well, taking deep pride in delivering an excellent service and supporting customers when needed, including in complex and sometimes distressing situations.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Netflix 'The Residence' star didn't want anyone to spoil the ending of the murder mystery for her
The new Shondaland murder mystery series on Netflix, The Residence starring Uzo Aduba, is a fun and suspenseful adventure to try to solve the case of the the death of A.B. Wynter (Giancarlo Esposito), former chief usher at the White House. But there's so much curiosity built up in the story that one of the show's stars, Susan Kelechi Watson, who plays Jasmine Haney, Wynter's assistant, didn't want to find out the ending the mystery before reading it herself. "I chose not to to find out and when people were talking about it, I'd be like, 'Don't say anything'!'" Watson told Yahoo Canada. "And then I tried not to read the last episode all the way through until I had to, just because I like murder mysteries, and I like the journey you go on." "If it doesn't have your head swinging like a tennis match, then it's not good." The Residence begins at the White during a state dinner hosting Australia's prime minister, with a special performance from Kylie Minogue. While all the staff are working overtime to make sure the event is executed perfectly, that's when Wynter's dead body is discovered, with the president's advisor, Harry Hollinger (Ken Marino), quick to identify the situation as a suicide. But the Metropolitan Police Department calls in consultant Cordelia Cupp to investigate Wynter's death. Cordelia is paired with Edwin Park (Randall Park) to help her navigate her investigation during a massively important dinner, even though Cordelia is initially quite resistant to his assistance in any capacity. Wynter's assistance Jasmine is someone who is initially quite helpful for Cordelia to get the lay of the land, and in understanding operations at the residence of the president, even though she's also an early suspect. Throughout the eight episodes, we're peeling back the layers on Cordelia's investigation into every possible circumstance that could have led to Wynter's death. All why a Senate committee hearing is being held about the probe into Wynter's death. "I was enjoying them laughing and turning the pages and racing to the next one before we started production," Aduba said about working on The Residence. "And then to watch the world really, frankly, come to life with the actors in our show who breathe that life and exceptionalism into each part, was just wonderful." "It was amazing to watch how whip smart and quick everybody's humour and style was. And you just felt the entire experience elevate and rise. And it was just wonderful." Aduba also praised her costar Randall Park, with Cordelia and Edwin very much become a dynamic duo throughout the course of the show. "In real life, the moment we met we just clicked right away and became fast friends," Park said about working with Aduba. "And so playing those initial scenes of the show was always a little jarring, because ... Cordelia is so cutting and Uzo is so locked in as an actor." "He's persistent. That's the thing about Edwin Park. ... And I think both of their journeys together are one of growth, and I think they come out of it better. Certainly Edwin comes out of it a better detective, and Cordelia maybe understands the the collaborative process a little more than she had at the beginning." While Cordelia is a character you'll love right away, very to the point, and quick to point out just how many men are working around her, Ken Marino's character Harry isn't particularly likeable at the beginning. He's clearly someone who got his job just because of his friendship with the president, and really just wants to clean up this mess as soon as possible, and has no problem being arrogant and brash trying to do it. "I feel like in that first episode, Harry's ... an important character to set the tone of the show, and the comic elements of it, or the heightened stakes of it," Marino said. "And so it was exciting to get som fun mouthfuls of dialogue." "He's a jerk. He is a bull in a china shop kind of guy. But for me, as an actor, I love parts like that. My job is not to, especially in a murder mystery, make you like me. My job is to make you suspect that I did something wrong." But in true Shonda Rhimes fashion, we're not just getting a murder mystery, there's also space to dive deeper into the character of Cordelia, understanding more about who she is as a person, not just a detective, injecting an appealing humanity into the story. In Episode 4 we go back to Cordelia's childhood as she's telling her nephew about a time when she was a kid and went on a mission to find his mother's missing strawberry sock. Aduba said that episode helped her "land the plane" on who Cordelia is. "You realize that she's had some pretty big challenges and traumas in her own life from an early age, and ... when I was reading that episode with her nephew, and you realize that as far back as we've taken her, meaning to little Cordelia, we actually haven't seen her," Aduba said. "We didn't get to see her before the trauma, so maybe she wasn't even this way before." "But in order to handle loss, grief, all of these things, maybe, and to get through life, that wall was built so that she could move on, move through things, and you start to understand a little bit more of why she is the way she is. Why the dynamics play the way they play, from relationship to relationship." The actor highlighted one line in that episode where Cordelia says to her nephew, "I love your mom. I didn't like to see her cry and I told her I was going to find her strawberry sock and I did find it. That's what I could do for your mom." "I remember thinking about that and saying to myself that, oh even though she's giving these straight faces and not showing her cards, or tipping her hand, she does feel things. She does have feelings. She does care," Aduba said. "And it then explained to me how she was able to make that turn later in a relationship with Edwin, how it can evolve, because of his own persistence in proving that he is her equal, but also she could receive, in her own way, again, that extension of friendship."
Washington Post
20-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
In ‘The Residence,' Uzo Aduba investigates a death in the White House
Netflix's 'The Residence' ushers the Shondaland empire back to the White House with a broad, escapist twist. Whereas 'Scandal' was a drama about a fixer, this limited series, created by 'Scandal' writer and producer Paul William Davies, is a hammy whodunit starring Uzo Aduba as Cordelia Cupp, the world's greatest detective (and an inveterate birder). The show's world is implausible, well-rendered and surprisingly specific. This is an alternate universe where the president (Paul Fitzgerald) is gay, married and trying to save the United States' shaky relationship with Australia — and his fledgling administration — with a fancy state dinner. It's not a home run. The seating chart's a mess, the White House calligrapher is off his game and the food is as meager as it is bewildering. But things really go south when White House chief usher A.B. Wynter (Giancarlo Esposito) — the man in charge of forging the permanent White House staff and the new president's employees into a functional team — is found dead in the Game Room on the third floor, his body riddled with a comical number of potential causes of death. Spiritually akin to 'Clue' and especially 'Knives Out,' to which it explicitly refers (Daniel Craig's character, Benoit Blanc, gets a shout-out), 'The Residence' is less original than winsomely derivative. The series is packed with references to other mysteries (and other White House shows, with the first episode featuring more than one time-lapse sequence in which shadows pass dramatically over federal buildings, a la 'House of Cards'). Episodes are named after famous murder mysteries ('Dial M for Murder,' 'The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb'). There is a dog that didn't bark (until he did), and one character is shown reading Agatha Christie's 'The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.' These allusions tend to be more amusing than substantive; the first episode, in which the chief usher dies, is titled 'The Fall of the House of Usher.' Even the casting is laced with winks and nods. The president's friend and chief adviser, Harry Hollinger (Ken Marino), for instance, is obsessed with getting the death ruled a suicide so as to minimize the political fallout. Hollinger isn't especially similar to Marino's 'Party Down' character, Ron Donald, the catering crew's hapless boss. But it's pretty fun — and feels deliberate — that we first encounter him sweatily managing the fallout of a disastrous party. Esposito has enormous range, but his Wynter has more than a hint of his famous 'Breaking Bad' character, Gus Fring, who managed his employees with poise and sangfroid. Al Franken plays a slightly slimy senator. Bronson Pinchot, who played the heavily accented Balki in 'Perfect Strangers' and Serge in 'Beverly Hills Cop' despite being American (and a prolific and gifted audiobook narrator), plays a haughty Swiss-German pastry chef. It's a pleasure to watch 'The Wire' alums Edwina Findley and Isiah Whitlock Jr. work in a goofier register. And Randall Park — who becomes Cupp's sidekick, Edwin Park, throughout the investigation — leans into his stint as Jimmy Woo in the Marvel universe: He is once again an FBI agent. The show's silliest casting joke concerns Hugh Jackman, but I won't spoil it. The exception to all this is Aduba, who carries the series, and whose character couldn't differ more from the one she's most famous for (Suzanne 'Crazy Eyes' Warren in 'Orange Is the New Black'). Aduba plays Cupp as fantastically dry, literal and thoroughly dismissive of the president's diplomatic and political concerns. It's a delightful performance I've found myself rewatching just for fun. Cupp effectively has two assistants: Park, whose presence she merely tolerates, and Susan Kelechi Watson's Jasmine Haney, the White House assistant usher, who escorts her through the building and carefully explains how the White House runs. Both are great, but Park makes a particularly funny Watson to Aduba's Holmes. (It's usual for the sidekick to narrate the detective's unorthodox methods; 'The Residence' does this via a Senate hearing about the events that took place on the night of the state dinner. That framing device — effectively an investigation of an investigation — gives Park many amusing opportunities to narrate Cupp's unorthodox approach to sleuthing.) I can't speak to whether 'The Residence' works as an actual whodunit; critics received only seven of the series's eight episodes. (There's at least one discrepancy — possibly a plot hole, unless the conclusion explains it — concerning the length of one person's employment.) But it excels at delivering the genre's more incidental pleasures, which are the real reason so many of us watch or read. 'The Residence' is really a cheeky and salacious anthropology of the White House inspired by, and even borrowing a number of real historical anecdotes from, Kate Andersen Brower's 'The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House.' It's an upstairs/downstairs extravaganza about staff rivalries and resentments. And a fun way to think about how the permanent staff of the White House might feel about the building's many temporary occupants. Haney describes the dynamic to Cupp as 'us vs. them,' with 'us' encompassing the permanent staff and 'them' meaning everyone from the president to his staff to the media to the guests. Aduba plays Cupp with a stillness that shouldn't be half as charming or entertaining as it is. Her character's reserve (and many birdwatching breaks) anchors the show and makes space for the loud and silly performances 'The Residence' specializes in, such as Jane Curtin's turn as Nan Cox, the president's soused mother-in-law, and Jason Lee's stint as Tripp Morgan, his drunken loser of a brother. Edwina Findley steals scene after scene as Sheila Cannon, a festive, boundary-stomping White House butler. Molly Griggs plays a two-faced social secretary, Eliza Coupe twinkles demonically as a scandalmongering, conspiracy-minded senator, and Mary Wiseman makes a meal of every scene she has as Marvella, the White House's irascible executive chef. With wild monologues stacking up as conflict after conflict unspools, it's hard to stay focused on the murder, or to invest overmuch in the solution. The show's most compelling intervention, seven episodes in, might be how carefully it makes the case that cases can't be solved. This is a screwball mystery. Its one concession to realism is that witnesses tell bafflingly different and incompatible versions of the same story — and not always because they're lying. I can't say what the show hopes to achieve by introducing that degree of uncertainty into a whodunit; by the end, besides an abundance of motives and clues, there are too many inconsistencies for a lazy viewer to track. (I have no idea who did it but found myself wondering, watching Christie's 'Roger Ackroyd' make the aforementioned appearance, whether 'Murder on the Orient Express' might be the more pertinent text.) But regardless of where it all ends up, watching Cupp working through her leads — and getting folks to fess up to lesser crimes while nattering darkly about birds — makes for a pretty good time. The Residence premieres Thursday on Netflix.
