Elizabeth line worker died after punch, court told

An Elizabeth line railway worker died after being punched in the face with "significant force" by a passenger, a jury has been told.

Jorge Ortega, 61, hit his head on the concrete platform at Ilford station, east London, and died of a severe traumatic brain injury two days after the 4 December 2024 attack.

Ayodele Jamgbadi, 30, of Kingston Road, Ilford, is charged with Ortega's murder. Inner London Crown Court heard on Tuesday that he was not fit to make a plea or take part in his murder trial.

The jurors were told they must come to a ruling as to whether Jamgbadi "did the act" which led to Ortega's death, in a trial of issues.

Judge Benedict Kelleher told the court that Jamgbadi was "mentally unwell and not fit to stand trial", adding that he was "in hospital for that reason".

The jury has to consider whether Jamgbadi threw the punch and whether it was a significant cause of Ortega's death.

Prosecutor Patrick Dennis told the court that Jamgbadi was arrested the day after the attack and told officers at the time: "I punched him in the face... Are you going to nick me then?"

The court heard that Ortega was one of three staff members who approached Jamgbadi on the platform after they heard banging noises and saw him kicking an advertising frame.

CCTV footage showed the defendant walking away from the workers, before he turned around and began walking towards Ortega, the prosecutor said.

"It is at that stage he punched Jorge Ortega with significant force," Dennis said.

Ortega's co-worker, Mohammed Alim, said he witnessed a man on the platform punch Ortega "near the temple area".

"The impact of the punch was with so much force that I saw something fly out of his mouth," Alim told the court.

"He was floored. He hit the back of his head."

Ortega was carried into an office by his co-workers and members of the public, and was "going in and out of consciousness", Alim said.

The jury was told that pathologist Dr Michael Parsons concluded that Ortega's head injury was "entirely consistent with a substantial impact to the back of the head caused by a heavy fall from a standing height".

The RMT union previously said Ortega was one of its members who worked as a customer experience assistant for MTREL, which runs the Elizabeth line.

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