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'York bus driver Nathan Merryweather trapped passenger in door'- York Press

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yorkie

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https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/17...r-nathan-merryweather-trapped-passenger-door/
A BUS driver attacked an elderly passenger and trapped his arm in the bus’s door, York Magistrates Court heard.

District judge Adrian Lower said Nathan Shaun Merryweather, 25, started the incident by ordering the man off the No 13 Connexions bus for no reason.

When the puzzled man, who was in his seventies, obeyed, Merryweather followed him off the bus and shoved him
An unusual case; I don't think I've heard of anything like this happening before.
 
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KX03HZY

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Nasty fella. Seen him on some of the Facebook groups before. Abhorrent individual.
 

NorthernSpirit

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Some people shouldn't work with the public, it has to be said if you cannot be professional whilst under pressure then your simply in the wrong job.

Assaulting someone for no reason, especially of they're disabled or elderly, shows that the person themselves cannot behave in a reasonable manner.
 

Statto

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Some people shouldn't work with the public, it has to be said if you cannot be professional whilst under pressure then your simply in the wrong job.

Assaulting someone for no reason, especially of they're disabled or elderly, shows that the person themselves cannot behave in a reasonable manner.

Agreed, He should also lose his PSV licence permanently.
 

Busaholic

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''Reading references for the defence, the District Judge described the former bus driver,,,,'

It is a shame imo that the judge has no powers to issue an immediate ban on this individual driving a PSV, pending consideration of his future. I sincerely hope he is a former bus driver: what might have happened if the elderly man had refused to get off, or demanded an explanation? I'm in my seventies and have multiple sclerosis, but I still get around and use buses; on the other hand, I would not just meekly get off the bus in the circumstances described.
 

175mph

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''Reading references for the defence, the District Judge described the former bus driver,,,,'

It is a shame imo that the judge has no powers to issue an immediate ban on this individual driving a PSV, pending consideration of his future. I sincerely hope he is a former bus driver: what might have happened if the elderly man had refused to get off, or demanded an explanation? I'm in my seventies and have multiple sclerosis, but I still get around and use buses; on the other hand, I would not just meekly get off the bus in the circumstances described.
I'd like to hope that the driver wouldn't have used physical force to remove the elderly person, especially as bus drivers aren't allowed to lay a finger on passengers to remove them but seeing as he seemed to think he was above the law, what's to say whether or not he might have used physical force to remove the passenger?
 

SCH117X

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In full below
"A BUS driver attacked an elderly passenger and trapped his arm in the bus’s door, York Magistrates Court heard.
District judge Adrian Lower said Nathan Shaun Merryweather, 25, started the incident by ordering the man off the No 13 Connexions bus for no reason.
When the puzzled man, who was in his seventies, obeyed, Merryweather followed him off the bus and shoved him.

“His arm became trapped in the door mechanism.

“It must have been very painful indeed,” the district judge said.

In a victim personal statement, the victim said: “I just cannot understand why he behaved in the way he did.

“I wasn’t rude to him.

“If the bus stop hadn’t propped me up, I would have fallen over backwards when he pushed me.”

He said he is a regular bus traveller, relying on public transport to get around, but now avoids the No 13 Copmanthorpe-Haxby Connexions for fear Merryweather will be driving.

The court heard Merryweather was taken off driving duties and now faces a disciplinary hearing.

His employers will report his conviction to the Traffic Commissioners and he may lose his PSV licence, which enables him to drive buses.

Merryweather, of Maltongate, Thornton-le-Dale, pleaded guilty to assaulting the elderly man on May 4 at a Blossom Street bus stop.

He was given a 12-month community order with 15 days’ rehabilitative activities and 120 hours’ unpaid work.

He was also ordered to pay £200 compensation to the victim and £85 prosecution costs.

For him, Keith Whitehouse said: “This is utterly out of character.

“He is utterly devastated.”

His only explanation was that he had been under a lot of stress and anxiety at the time.

He had been suffering from mental illness but had not sought medical help until after the incident.

“You blew your top,” the district judge told Merryweather.

Reading references handed by the defence, he described the former bus driver as “someone who recognises the needs for others and can prioritise these over his own, and someone that for all intents and purposes is ideally suited to working with members of the public.”

But his conviction could well prevent him working as a bus driver in future. "

Wonder if it was the same driver responsible for some crazy driving in Harrogate one lunchtime a couple of years back. Anyone familiar with the town will know the last stop before the bus station on the 36 route is a layby just pass a right turn at a set of traffic lights on the A61 southbound. That lunchtime a Connexions bus had stopped in the layby (be it a X6/X6A or X12, pretty certain it was not a X52) and instead of waiting for a gap in the traffic streaming round the corner shot forward using the pavement to gain speed.
 
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mlambeuk

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Reading the York press facebook page regarding the story, I wonder how many people that have commented are First/ Transdev employees?.
 
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RJ

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I'd like to hope that the driver wouldn't have used physical force to remove the elderly person, especially as bus drivers aren't allowed to lay a finger on passengers to remove them but seeing as he seemed to think he was above the law, what's to say whether or not he might have used physical force to remove the passenger?

It does happen however. I've seen it a few times over the years. The one that sticks in the mind was on a N9 where the driver got out of the cab, pressed the emergency open button and flung out a rather drunken passenger who was refusing to budge from the platform. The guy attempted to grab at the driver's turban without success. And on the bus continued.

Whilst others will just drive with a passenger wedged in the front doors if they won't get off.

 
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