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Kelowna's transit union is calling for stronger laws to deal with people who assault bus drivers. (Photo Joe Fries)
The six-day jail sentence given to a 17-year-old boy who assaulted a bus driver does not send a strong enough message of deterrence, says the head of the local transit union.
In May, driver Frank O’Connor was punched once in the face onboard his bus, which broke his glasses and displaced his nose. The incident happened during an evening stop in Rutland. He missed several months of work, required counselling and may need surgery to fix his damaged beak.
The youth, who is 17, can’t be named due to provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
In Kelowna provincial court on Monday, Judge Mark Takahashi sentenced the boy to six days in open custody at a youth correctional centre, to be followed by three days of community supervision and a further 12 months probation. Terms of the probation order prohibit the boy from being within 50 metres of the Queensway bus loop and from boarding a bus driven by O’Connor.
The boy was convicted last summer for possession of ecstasy for the purpose of trafficking. For that he was handed a 12-month conditional sentence, but flouted terms that required he abstain from drugs, alcohol and abide by a curfew. Court also heard he’s been expelled from school.
Takahashi said defence counsel argued that the assault centred on a dispute around the use of a transfer pass. Outside court, however, Lloyd Hooper, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1722, said the altercation started at the downtown bus loop and carried over to a stop on Highway 33.
The boy was apparently angry that O’Connor wouldn’t hold the bus for him and two friends downtown. The trio caught up with O’Connor’s bus in Rutland, at which point two of the youths began verbally abusing O’Connor. The accused then put his bus pass in front of the driver’s face and punched him in the nose.
“I’m sorry. It should never have happened. That’s all I’ve got to say,” the boy told court.
But Hooper doubted the sincerity of the boy’s apology and thought Takahashi should have went farther than a six-day jail sentence.
“It should have been something a lot stronger,” Hooper remarked. “To him, (six) days is like a holiday.”
While the boy’s probation order only prohibits him from boarding a bus being driven by O’Connor, Hooper told the drivers who were in attendance for the sentencing hearing that they can also tell the youth to take a hike.
“We have a right to refuse service to anybody who puts us in an unsafe situation,” he explained.
Eight union members were in court Monday afternoon to show solidarity. A 10-person contingent attended in the morning to watch the initial stages of another court case along the same lines.
Hooper said there were 15 physical assaults on drivers within the Kelowna transit system last year, while verbal assaults are a daily occurrence. And he doesn’t see the situation improving.
“It’s not acceptable,” he said. “I’ve been assaulted. I know what it’s like.”
He wants to see strengthened justice legislation that would make assaulting a transit driver an offence on par with assaulting a police officer. He noted that in the Lower Mainland, TransLink is test-driving protective shields and surveillance cameras on some of its buses.
“I’m not sure if shields are the answer,” he said. “We have to do something.”
joe@kelowna.com
250-575-4303
One Response to “Union slams sentence as teen convicted of assault on bus driver gets six days in jail”
Tags: assault, bus driver, transit, union
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Are you kidding me? Just another reason why these punks do what they do, weakling, gutless judges. No-one should be subjected to abuse or assault at their workplace and it is about time we find some judges who have the balls to actually punish these punks. Sad. Judge Mark Takahashi, you should be ashamed of yourself.
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