A football hooligan who claimed to be “standing up for his country” when he pushed a Polish builder onto live Tube tracks has failed to have his sentence reduced.

Christopher John Cole was angry with the behaviour of Russian fans during England’s dismal Euro 2016 campaign and attacked the victim at Bond Street station.

The 32-year-old, from Shepherd’s Bush , had been jailed for 10 years after admitting to attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent at the Old Bailey in January.

His lawyers argued at the Court of Appeal on Wednesday (November 2) that the punishment was too tough, but judges disagreed.

Cole, from Queensdale Crescent, had been drinking heavily when he met his victim Dawid Pietraszek, 21, on a Central line train on June 9 last year.

Cole was shouting and behaving aggressively towards other passengers and, when the builder told him to calm down, he pushed him in the chest and “squared up to him”, as if he was going to punch him.

Mr Pietraszek took hold of Cole in a headlock to defend himself and another passenger eventually persuaded Cole to sit down.

When both men got off the train at Bond Street, Mr Pietraszek encouraged Cole to go up an escalator to the exit, before turning to make his way to the Jubilee Line platform.

CCTV footage captured the horrifying moment

But CCTV footage showed that, instead of going outside, Cole ran down an up escalator then followed the victim through the station and pushed him onto the tracks when they reached the platform.

The court heard the tracks were live, with a charge of 210 volts, and Mr Pietraszeck felt the electricity surge through his body.

He was only saved by the fact he was wearing his rubber-soled work boots at the time.

The victim managed to pull himself up onto the platform just shortly before a train arrived.

When interviewed by police, Cole said he believed he was upholding the reputation of his country and told the officers they should have supported him more.

Cole has been sentenced to 10 years in prison

His lawyers argued the crown court judge didn’t take enough account of his admission of guilt and gave too much weight to his comments at the interview.

They also said Cole did not plan the attack and did not intend to cause the victim serious harm.

But, dismissing his appeal, Mr Justice Lewis said the judge was entitled to view the case as seriously as he did.

Cole had followed the victim on purpose and knew a train was coming in just over 30 seconds when he pushed him onto the tracks.

Sitting with Lord Justice Simon and Judge Mark Brown QC, the judge added: “As is clear from the CCTV, this offence was truly chilling.”

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