Friends of a ‘gentle’ elderly man with an intellectual disability are furious that he was beaten to death at a train station.
Allan Thomas was found with severe injuries at Queens Park train station in Perth at about 5.50am on Monday.
The 70-year-old lived alone near the station and was walking to the train on his way to work at a charity shop when he was allegedly killed by a 52-year-old man.
Michael Papas (pictured below), a neighbour of 20 years, fought back the tears as he described Mr Thomas’ ‘kind heart’.
Mr Thomas was found with severe injuries at Queens Park train station in Perth early yesterday.
‘He was a gentle man, he was fantastic. This has shocked us badly. Everyone who knows him, loves him. The people over the road know him, everyone knows him,’ he told The West.
Police have not released details of Mr Thomas’ injuries, but a cooler bag containing wrapped Christmas presents and a lunch box were strewn on the train tracks after the alleged assault.
A witness said they saw officers giving CPR to a man on a platform before he was taken by paramedics.
Mr Thomas was rushed to Royal Perth Hospital in an ambulance but later died from his injuries.
While speaking about Mr Thomas’ tragic death, he said he felt ‘disgusted’ and ‘angry’.
‘I mean, you know, everybody in my family knows him. Mother, father, sisters. They all know him. I told my mother and she was in tears,’ he said.
Mr Thomas lived on the same street for more than 30 years and was a regular at the Zone Bowling Club in Cannington, where he would bowl on Wednesdays with a disability group.
Club employees said he was a ‘kind’ soul who was always up for a chat.
IGA supermarket workers also broke down when they heard of his death.
Police charged the 52-year-old man with murder on Monday afternoon. He will appear in Perth Magistrate’s Court today.
This article first appeared on The Daily Mail.
