Legal blog connects magic circle lawyer Tom Longstaff to the incident
Global law firm Linklaters has declined to comment on a report that suggests one of its lawyers is the individual identified in a public appeal following an allegation of verbal use on a train.
Tom Longstaff, who is an associate at the magic circle outfit, has been linked to an altercation that occurred on a 9:35pm Virgin Trains service from London King’s Cross to Leeds last December. In a bid to track the alleged perpetrator down, British Transport Police (BTP) launched a public appeal for information last week.
According to the police post — which appears on BTP’s official website — officers are keen to trace an individual who was allegedly “aggressive towards another man” causing him to “feel uncomfortable and threatened”. The plea claims that the unnamed man began “verbally abusing” a fellow passenger for “approximately 90 minutes” when asked to turn the volume down on his mobile phone.
Now, in an incredible twist to this story, weekly legal blog RollOnFriday has connected Longstaff to the supposed fracas. The site claims that the photograph of the male accompanying the police appeal (pictured above) “looks uncannily” like the top City lawyer.
Longstaff has not responded to Legal Cheek’s request for comment, while Linklaters’ PR team is refusing to confirm or deny whether or not it is their man — who apparently commutes from his home in Leeds every week to the international firm’s London office — that features in BTP’s public appeal.
Longstaff’s LinkedIn reveals that he has only been at the firm for four months, having made the switch from DLA Piper. Longstaff studied history at Cambridge University before completing the Legal Practice Course (LPC) at the College of Law — now known as the University of Law — and has four years post-qualification experience.
BTP told Legal Cheek that “no arrest have [sic] been made at present.”
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