STRAIGHT-LINE YouTubers who escaped action from officers for Covid breach are facing prosecution from Transport Police after they crossed a high-speed railway line and two motorways on foot.
Tom Davies aka GeoWizard released his three-part series earlier this month of his recent attempt to walk across Scotland in a straight line with his step-brother Greg.
It’s not clear exactly when the footage was filmed, however it was earlier this year when local lockdowns were in place.
The aim was to walk across the country without deviating more than 50 metres from a straight line.
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As the duo embarked on their challenge they scale barbed wire fences crossing private properties, a high-speed railway line near Cowrie, and motorways M9 and M80 in Stirlingshire.
It is when they choose to camp overnight on land at Sauchie Home Farm, the concerned farmer reported them to the Police.
Officers approach the men and upon discovering Tom is from Birmingham, and that Greg is from Wales it appears they are going to be fined for breaching Coronavirus rules – one of the officers himself stated he is not allowed to leave the Stirlingshire region.
The next morning Tom reveals that they weren’t fined and the officers used their discretion and trusted them to go home.
Had the officers been aware at the time, of their undetected misdemeanours such as trespassing on the railway and walking on motorways, I doubt they would have been inclined to be so lenient.
Police Scotland were unable to trace the report without an exact date, however Network Rail said after viewing the footage they would be passing the footage to the Transport Police to investigate.
A Network Rail spokesperson said: “Trespassing on the railway is not only illegal, it can have deadly consequences for those involved.
“The actions of the individuals in this video are incredibly stupid.
“We always seek to prosecute those deliberately trespassing on our infrastructure.”
Later on Wednesday Tom Davis, 30, posted a message on his GeoWizard community page and wrote: “Some of you may have noticed that Episode #2 of the mission across Scotland has been taken down.
“This is for police related reasons, I will upload a re-edited version that excludes the railway track scene.
“Again, not ideal but hands definitely tied with that one.”
A road safety expert said that the police should have played it straight and thrown the book at them.
Edmund King, AA president, said: “The ‘straight line’ brigade in this video should have stuck to straight roads like the Roman Fosse Way rather than illegally trying to cross a motorway on foot.
“This would have been a dangerous manoeuvre for Roman soldiers, let alone YouTube influencers.
“They are lucky that the police didn’t play it straight and throw the book at them.”
Despite failing to cross Scotland this year and Wales in 2019, Davies did become the first man to walk across Norway in a straight line in 2020.
The Wales attempt was cut short just nine miles from the coast as he was suffering from hyperthermia after wading through marshes and climbing a mountain.
