A man who assaulted a bus driver in September last year has been jailed for 5 months following a hearing on Thursday and must also pay his victim compensation.
Alex Saint (21) pleaded not guilty to assaulting the 55-year-old who had been driving the 109 bus at the time. During the incident, the bus had stopped temporarily in order to change drivers. As the bus driver exited the cab, an exasperated Saint demanded that he drive the bus. When he did not comply, Saint proceeded to punch him on the hand. He then ran away after the new bus driver arrived and intervened.
Following an intensive investigation, the Workplace Violence Unit, which deals with violence against TfL staff, obtained CCTV footage, which eventually led to Saint’s arrest. He was found guilty of common assault and committing a section 5 public order offence and was sentenced to jail on April 24.
Chief Superintendent Sultan Taylor of Safer Transport Command stated: “This unprovoked attack on a bus driver has resulted in the offender being given a significant prison sentence, thanks to the investigation by our Workplace Violence Unit. This type of behaviour on London’s bus network will not be tolerated.”
Steve Burton, TfL’s Director of Enforcement and On-Street Operations, added: “This was a mindless, unprovoked attack towards our bus driver, who was just doing his job. Our staff should be allowed to carry out their daily work duties without fear of attack from the travelling public. Thanks to the work and efforts of the Safer Transport Command, this offender has been successfully prosecuted and jailed. We will continue to work with our policing partners to identify offenders and push for the toughest penalties for anyone who abuses our staff.”
