‘Make buses safe’ (From This Is Local London)

‘Make buses safe’

7:36am Sunday 26th November 2006 in

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Head teachers and bus companies are being urged to do more to control the behaviour of children travelling home from school after a 12-year-old girl was left bloodied following a 'brutal attack' by a fellow pupil.

The calls come as Transport for London (TfL) and the Metropolitan Police announced on Tuesday that Haringey is to get 20 new Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) in the new year specifically to make public transport in the borough safer.

This week, to prevent the kind of incident which saw Katherine Griffin, of Trinity Road, Wood Green, hurt after an altercation on the W3 bus, Haringey police has put officers on bus routes which have had problems with children attacking others.

Katherine, a pupil at Hornsey School for Girls, in Inderwick Road, Crouch End, suffered bruising and a bloody nose after the altercation with another girl from the school on November 8.

Katherine's mother, Samantha, criticised the bus driver for failing to do more to help her daughter. She claimed the bus driver did not intervene, call for medical assistance or even stop the bus. This has been verified by Crouch End ward councillor Ron Aitken, who was on the bus at the time.

Mrs Griffin said: "The driver could have done far more. A few sharp words from an adult could have prevented Katherine from being brutally attacked. There should also be more CCTV on buses."

Mr Aitken, the Lib Dem spokesman for crime and community safety, intervened to stop the incident. He said: "I was quite shocked. There was blood all over the bus. The young lady was very shaken up and bleeding heavily from her nose. My understanding is that her head had been slammed against the bus window.

"Although efforts by Safer Neighbourhoods Teams at bus stops during school leaving time are welcome, there are clearly issues of bullying and intimidation which need to be addressed by schools and London Buses. This seems to be a very, very troublesome route."

Mrs Griffin contacted Arriva, the company which runs the W3 service, to complain, but she was told no disciplinary action could be taken because they did not know who the driver was.

An Arriva London spokesman said: "It would be totally unacceptable for a bus driver to behave in the manner described. We expect drivers to make the safety of customers a priority and summon the emergency services via the bus radio if requested.

"There was not enough information to trace the driver in this incident. If anyone has any information to help us investigate it, we will."

Andy Yarrow, head teacher at Hornsey School for Girls, said the girl responsible had been identified and appropriate action would be taken by police and the school.