Trent Barton driver refused to let woman on bus for 20p fare – then she was raped
WHEN a driver for Trent Barton buses refused to let a 22-year-old woman board the bus because she was 20p short of ther £5 fare he could not have known she would soon after be raped. The papers are full of the fact that at the time she was a law student. Why share that? Were she unemployed would we view the crime differently?
At Nottingham Crown Court, juriors saw CCTV footage of the women beseeching the driver to let her travel. She pleads with him for eight minutes. She said she would dash to a cash machine close by and get the money. If only he would wait.
It was December 2011. It was 3am. It was freezing cold.
The bus drove off without her. The woman called her mother for help. She bagan to walk towards the meeting place. Then Joseph Moran, 19, saw her. He dragged her into a park and raped her.
Moran has been found guilty of rape and wounding with intent.
Detective Chief Inspector Rob Griffin, of Nottinghamshire Police, told media:
“The level of violence was so extreme it was shocking. Nottingham will be a safer place by virtue of the fact Moran is in prison, and the females of the city are much safer for it. He is very dangerous and very violent. He is a sexual predator. It is tempting to start to attribute blame, and one might try to blame the driver of the bus. But had she got on the bus, I think he would have attacked someone else. The only person to blame is Joseph Moran. It is difficult to speak for the other passengers on the bus, and they made a judgement that night. Knowing what they know now, they may have given her that 20 pence.”
Can you apportion any blame to the driver or his employers?
The company website states:
To get started as a trent barton driver you will need a positive attitude, a natural ability to treat customers as you would wish to be treated yourself…
The firm has not released the driver’s name. But they are happy to do so when the news is good:
We get many nice comments from our customers when our drivers have done a good job, and we like to show them off when they do! So, we’ve created our wall of fame to do exactly that.
A Trent Barton speksman noted:
“Our own investigations reveal that at no point did our driver refuse or deny this customer travel on our service that night, and we remain committed to assisting the police in their enquiries in bringing the assailant to justice.”
She says he did.
Posted: 8th, June 2012 | In: Reviews Comments (8) | TrackBack | Permalink
