Shocking incident in Telford

[em81]

This is all over social media at the moment. There's mobile phone footage showing the man pulling out the ticket machine and then throwing it at the driver.

Some areas have lost their bus service due to incidents where drivers have been attacked or vehicles have been damaged. I wonder if this will be another?

It looks like it was Pulsar FL63 DXP on Arriva route 100.

Single decker Arriva bus stolen and driven into cars

A man is arrested after the stolen bus crashed into multiple vehicles in Telford, police say.

www.bbc.co.uk

A single decker bus was stolen in Shropshire after the driver was attacked, later crashing into a row of parked cars.

Videos posted on social media show the driver being assaulted by a man, before he took over the wheel and drove it down the wrong side of the road, crashing it into multiple cars.

Passengers can be heard screaming for him to stop and urging people to get out of the way.

A man has been arrested over the incident in Court Street, Telford, which happened at around 18.35 BST on Friday.

He remains in police custody while inquiries continue.

The bus driver was treated by paramedics for minor injuries and no-one else was believed to have been hurt, police said.

West Mercia Police said the man drove the bus along Park Way towards the High Street.

Officers eventually stopped the vehicle and arrested a man in his 20s on suspicion of robbery and dangerous driving.

Det Sgt Taigh Lannie said: "We understand this will have been an alarming incident for those in the area this evening.

"I'd like to reassure the community that officers responded quickly and a man has been arrested and remains in police custody."

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Saturday at 10:25 ==

I just noticed this has already been mentioned in the Arriva Midlands thread: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/arriva-midlands.263963/page-77

 

[Farigiraf]

Some areas have lost their bus service due to incidents where drivers have been attacked or vehicles have been damaged. I wonder if this will be another?

It's a perfectly valid decision to do so if the drivers' lives are regularly in danger, and I can't think a better solution that doesn't continue to put people at risk.
But to play devil's advocate, wouldn't that make the problem worse in the long term?

With Telford being such a car-dependent town I'd imagine that cutting the bus route to a high-ASB / deprived area (where anyone who could drive, would) will just lead to those without the option of driving being effectively trapped in their little unhappy suburb. Bus links to these areas can provide the only link (unless you fancy risking your life to cycle) to skilled work, education, basically any chance of having a better life rather than loitering about in your local area doing all sorts of crime. Removing that really limits social mobility. I don't like to throw around the word ghettoisation but this is essentially a form of that.

 

[Towers]

What other option do operators have? If they continue to send their staff and vehicles into areas where they are regularly being put at risk, if and when somebody gets hurt they are on the hook to a degree for being negligent. No doubt there will be a string of compensation claims from the poor souls on the bus in this incident, who will hunting for a payout from the bus company despite the obvious facts of the situation.

There has tended to be a feeling that when things in the ghetto start kicking off the most effective solution is sometimes to let the community sort it out amongst themselves - once enough folk are hacked off at there being no bus service, the prevailing mood will help to keep the idiots responsible in check for a while. Or that’s the idea, anyhow!

Many of these areas are ‘good’ bus territory, that is to say plenty of customers, and so the operator is unlikely to be pleased at withdrawing the service. However, there comes a tipping point where action is needed.

 

[Failed Unit]

I remember in Edinburgh, some routes have had police escorts at times. Extreme but it means that the residents are not prisoners.

 

[alex397]

I’ll look forward to the full report of this incident, if it is ever made public. It will be interesting to find out how quick or slow the police response was, and if he’ll be charged for more than just robbery and dangerous driving. It’s a bizarre incident .

Let’s hope the driver is treated well by Arriva.

 

[em81]

I’ll look forward to the full report of this incident, if it is ever made public. It will be interesting to find out how quick or slow the police response was, and if he’ll be charged for more than just robbery and dangerous driving. It’s a bizarre incident .

Let’s hope the driver is treated well by Arriva.

We can't trust what people are posting as comments on social media as facts, as some of them are unfounded. However, there are claims the initial 999 call was made by a teenage girl and that it took a long time for the police to show up.

Looking at where the road is it appears to be Madeley, in the borough of Telford, rather than in Telford town centre, which probably meant the closest open police station in the evening was further away.

 

[Simon75]

I’ll look forward to the full report of this incident, if it is ever made public. It will be interesting to find out how quick or slow the police response was, and if he’ll be charged for more than just robbery and dangerous driving. It’s a bizarre incident .

Let’s hope the driver is treated well by Arriva.

Bear in mind 2 things . What was said on 999 call call and also how many police were close by (like fire and ambulance)

 

[Statto]

What other option do operators have? If they continue to send their staff and vehicles into areas where they are regularly being put at risk, if and when somebody gets hurt they are on the hook to a degree for being negligent. No doubt there will be a string of compensation claims from the poor souls on the bus in this incident, who will hunting for a payout from the bus company despite the obvious facts of the situation.

There has tended to be a feeling that when things in the ghetto start kicking off the most effective solution is sometimes to let the community sort it out amongst themselves - once enough folk are hacked off at there being no bus service, the prevailing mood will help to keep the idiots responsible in check for a while. Or that’s the idea, anyhow!

Many of these areas are ‘good’ bus territory, that is to say plenty of customers, and so the operator is unlikely to be pleased at withdrawing the service. However, there comes a tipping point where action is needed.

Indeed, it happens in my area too, were buses get diverted if they're regularly being put at risk. Whilst operator want's to make a profit driver & passenger safety should be paramount if drivers & passengers are being put at risk then diversions or cancellations are going to happen, & the next couple of months is often the worst time of year for trouble with the nights drawing in.

 

[Wolfie]

We can't trust what people are posting as comments on social media as facts, as some of them are unfounded. However, there are claims the initial 999 call was made by a teenage girl and that it took a long time for the police to show up.

Looking at where the road is it appears to be Madeley, in the borough of Telford, rather than in Telford town centre, which probably meant the closest open police station in the evening was further away.

It absolutely was Madeley. I recognise the location not least because l originate from there and actually used the same service later yesterday. Hope that the driver is ok and the offender is hammered - likely didn't want to pay. The 100 is a route sponsored by Telford and Wrekin council and the adult fare is a vast £2....

 

[em81]

It's a perfectly valid decision to do so if the drivers' lives are regularly in danger, and I can't think a better solution that doesn't continue to put people at risk.

The operator has obviously got staff retention and insurance premiums to think about. If I was a bus driver and kept being asked to drive an unsafe route, I'd be looking at moving employers.

 

[matchmaker]

I Googled Glasgow bus conductor murdered and found my own comment on a now closed thread on this very forum...

"I can remember a Glasgow Corporation conductor called Thomas Bourne being murdered on a night service in 1969. Following that, all Corporation buses were fitted with an alarm siren operated by push buttons in the saloons and cab. In case of trouble, the driver or conductor would activate the siren and the driver would head for the nearest police station. That was in the days when such places as police stations existed and were staffed 24/7..."

 

[nw1]

That was in the days when such places as police stations existed and were staffed 24/7..."

When it comes to decisions on matters such as this, cost-cutting and bean-counting trumps all, it appears. Tough on crime, claim the politicians. Tougher on "wasteful" (lol) public spending is the more accurate mantra of the 2020s, it appears.

 

[em81]

I Googled Glasgow bus conductor murdered and found my own comment on a now closed thread on this very forum...

"I can remember a Glasgow Corporation conductor called Thomas Bourne being murdered on a night service in 1969. Following that, all Corporation buses were fitted with an alarm siren operated by push buttons in the saloons and cab. In case of trouble, the driver or conductor would activate the siren and the driver would head for the nearest police station. That was in the days when such places as police stations existed and were staffed 24/7..."

My mum told me that when she was young (in days when bus conductors existed) they were told if there's a threat to their personal safety and no one else is around then to wave down the next bus.

 

[Ballyheigue]

My mum told me that when she was young (in days when bus conductors existed) they were told if there's a threat to their personal safety and no one else is around then to wave down the next bus.

Wave down the next bus? I'd be waving the heavy ticket machine around the offenders head first before waiting for the next bus to come lol

 

[em81]

Wave down the next bus? I'd be waving the heavy ticket machine around the offenders head first before waiting for the next bus to come lol

No that was on the basis you weren't on a bus, and the next bus was seen as a safe space, even if you didn't originally have any intention of boarding a bus.

 

[SalopBuses]

It absolutely was Madeley. I recognise the location not least because l originate from there and actually used the same service later yesterday. Hope that the driver is ok and the offender is hammered - likely didn't want to pay. The 100 is a route sponsored by Telford and Wrekin council and the adult fare is a vast £2....

I use the 100 sometimes too, for some reason the Sutton Hill buses always have some crazy characters on them, once had a woman start harassing everyone on the bus with her personal problems and causing hassle because she had to be somewhere quickly and she chose the 2, the longest route to Madeley and started harassing the driver because he was at a timing point and was early.
Just the tip of the iceberg of some of the things I have seen on the Sutton Hill buses, glad I moved from Sutton Hill a few months ago.

 

[jon0844]

At the very least, all buses need screens that are much more secure than it appears that one was. Perhaps another way to immobilise too.

 

[BuhSnarf]

We can't trust what people are posting as comments on social media as facts, as some of them are unfounded. However, there are claims the initial 999 call was made by a teenage girl and that it took a long time for the police to show up.

The BBC article quotes that the police arrived within 10 minutes.

He said: "I want to reassure people that our enquiries are very much ongoing. Officers were on the scene, and had made the arrest, within 10 minutes of the first call being received."

An absolutely awful incident and watching the video I felt so sorry for the driver who appeared to be helpless and cornered with no option of escaping the aggressor. It appears at points the guy managed to rip the ticket machine off and throw this at the driver which I would have thought would have been securely bolted to the bus and also the security shield appears to have been pulled off and is used to attack the driver. Are these screens that flimsy that instead of being used to protect the driver they can be used to attack the driver.

Also, do buses not have emergency attack alarms in them that alerts the police? Fair play to the girls who stood by and called 999 and in this instance I think filming was absolutely the right call rather than trying to intervene as at least there is clear evidence that shows what happened and identifies the culprit.

 

[em81]

With regards to the ticket machines the staff do need to be able to swap them fairly easily if a machine fails.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Are these screens that flimsy that instead of being used to protect the driver they can be used to attack the driver.

They're not flimsy, nor are the clips for the ticket machine, although ticket machines are designed to be removed.

As always, if someone is determined enough...

 

[Deerfold]

Also, do buses not have emergency attack alarms in them that alerts the police?

The only place I know that has these is London where a red button puts the driver through to a joint TfL/Police call centre.

 

[Dwarfer1979]

An absolutely awful incident and watching the video I felt so sorry for the driver who appeared to be helpless and cornered with no option of escaping the aggressor. It appears at points the guy managed to rip the ticket machine off and throw this at the driver which I would have thought would have been securely bolted to the bus and also the security shield appears to have been pulled off and is used to attack the driver. Are these screens that flimsy that instead of being used to protect the driver they can be used to attack the driver.

Ticket machines need to be removable reasonably quickly to allow them to be swapped when there is an issue rather than taking the whole bus out of service. It does take some effort to remove it without tools but as Tetchtyke has said if someone is determined enough then it is difficult to prevent.

Not sure these are actually security shields, a lot of them are a combination of just the door frame of the cab and leftover aspects of the old COVID shields. Some have more solidity than others but at the end of the day unless it encloses the cab extensively it doesn't act as an assault screens. Full assault screens are much more solid and encompassing but tend to be favoured by big city operations rather than a general principle across the country.

Also, do buses not have emergency attack alarms in them that alerts the police? Fair play to the girls who stood by and called 999 and in this instance I think filming was absolutely the right call rather than trying to intervene as at least there is clear evidence that shows what happened and identifies the culprit.

Depends where you are, big city operators sometimes do (London does both to connect to control and also to make a very loud noise) but provincial operators generally don't. The only use those things tended to see when fitted on secondhand buses out of the big cities was as a very loud way of getting a car to move out of a bus stop.

At the very least, all buses need screens that are much more secure than it appears that one was. Perhaps another way to immobilise too.

Depends where you are how necessary they are and many drivers don't actually like them - aspects of reflections in the dark, the sense of enclosure and the interference with customer interactions. Thankfully incidents like this are so incredibly rare for most operators that this is almost unheard of, which is why we are all so shocked by it.

Turning the vehicle off fully probably would have been enough to prevent the driving away but in a circumstance like this it is difficult for a driver to think of such things so it would be just as difficult to remember to hit any sort of additional immobilisation and any such device is going to spend more time causing issues due to accidental activation or failure than it would ever be needed for such an event.

 

[BuhSnarf]

They're not flimsy, nor are the clips for the ticket machine, although ticket machines are designed to be removed.

As always, if someone is determined enough...

That's true, he did seem to be having issues with getting the ticket machine off and we didn't see how the security screen actually was removed.

The only place I know that has these is London where a red button puts the driver through to a joint TfL/Police call centre.

I'd hope that maybe something like this triggers this being a feature for places outside London.

Turning the vehicle off fully probably would have been enough to prevent the driving away but in a circumstance like this it is difficult for a driver to think of such things so it would be just as difficult to remember to hit any sort of additional immobilisation and any such device is going to spend more time causing issues due to accidental activation or failure than it would ever be needed for such an event.

Agree, turning off the vehicle possibly could have enraged this person even further leading to more than just "minor" injuries.

 

[em81]

Agree, turning off the vehicle possibly could have enraged this person even further leading to more than just "minor" injuries.

Had it been a more modern bus the engine may have turned itself off due to it being stopped at a bus stop with the door open. I know the Bee Network MMCs do that.

and we didn't see how the security screen actually was removed.

I wonder if it was a bus without one that had one fitted during COVID, primarily to prevent transmission, rather than to protect against violent passengers.

 

[Wolfie]

I use the 100 sometimes too, for some reason the Sutton Hill buses always have some crazy characters on them, once had a woman start harassing everyone on the bus with her personal problems and causing hassle because she had to be somewhere quickly and she chose the 2, the longest route to Madeley and started harassing the driver because he was at a timing point and was early.
Just the tip of the iceberg of some of the things I have seen on the Sutton Hill buses, glad I moved from Sutton Hill a few months ago.

I travelled back down South after a certain football match yesterday. A couple of Arriva drivers told me that their colleague is shaken but generally ok which is good news.

On a less positive note, it appears that the fact that the arrested individual was a Yemeni national led to some sort of march by what an Asian friend called "balaclava clad thugs" in the area yesterday with significant police presence. Hardly helpful to anyone.

 

[em81]

I travelled back down South after a certain football match yesterday. A couple of Arriva drivers told me that their colleague is shaken but generally ok which is good news.

On a less positive note, it appears that the fact that the arrested individual was a Yemeni national led to some sort of march by what an Asian friend called "balaclava clad thugs" in the area yesterday with significant police presence. Hardly helpful to anyone.

I noticed even before he was identified Facebook was full of comments wanting his nationality. I think they would have been disappointed had it been someone who was born in Birmingham.

Even a news story about a man being arrested on a flight at Málaga heading for the UK got the same comments. They went quiet when it was revealed it was a white middle aged Brit who had hospitalised a boy after hitting him with a hire car.

 

[Tetchytyke]

The only place I know that has these is London where a red button puts the driver through to a joint TfL/Police call centre.

I think Translink buses in Northern Ireland do, as you’d expect given how often they are attacked. I believe they even display HELP ME on the destination blind when it is activated.

 

[Deerfold]

I'd hope that maybe something like this triggers this being a feature for places outside London.

They'll need to spend quite a lot to have police available to come or people will soon realise nothing happens when the button is pressed.

I think Translink buses in Northern Ireland do, as you’d expect given how often they are attacked. I believe they even display HELP ME on the destination blind when it is activated.

Quite possibly. I've not spent a lot of time on their buses.

 

[izvor]

Putting the hazard lights (4-way flashers) whilst moving along used to be an alert for any passing patrol cars to intervene to a PSV in distress.