Teens admit bus attack on driver

The attempted robbery on Bramham Road, in Chapelfields, in May, raised concerns about drivers' safety and sparked a meeting between First bus company management and union officials.

At York Youth Court, prosecutor Vivienne Walsh told justices that the pair struck while driver Andrew Hudson was waiting at the end of his route for the scheduled start time of his next service, at 9.15pm on Saturday, May 17.

The doors were closed, but the youths opened them by pushing a button on the outside of the bus.

They then pulled a knife on the driver, threatened him and told him to hand over the cash he had.

He managed to sound the alarm and they fled empty-handed.

A 16-year-old from west York pleaded guilty to attempted robbery yesterday. His co-accused, a 17-year-old from Acomb, pleaded guilty last week. Neither can be named for legal reasons. They will both be sentenced on Tuesday after youth offending team officers prepare reports on them.

Mrs Walsh said that the older youth was the one with the knife and was a persistent young offender. The younger youth had two previous court appearances.

For the younge youth, Helen Morris said he did not know his companion had a weapon until he saw it in the bus.

"At the point the knife is produced (the younger youth) takes (the older youth) by the arms and effectively pulls him away from what is obviously becoming quite a dangerous situation," the solicitor added.

She was describing what she had seen on a video of the incident taken by the bus's internal CCTV. The younger teenager came from a good, supportive family.

Previous attacks on buses have forced First to cancel late services to Chapelfields on at least two occasions in recent years, and when services resumed after the last suspension in July last year residents warned the company not to use Bramham Road as a terminus. But after May's attack, First decided to continue the bus services.

Updated: 11:12 Wednesday, August 06, 2003