From:
http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/ne..._the_buses.php

Terror on the buses
By Linda Piper


A COMMUTER has described how he was caught up in a riot of drunken teenagers
on his way home from work.

The 64-year-old City worker described how he and two other adults were
trapped on a 233 bus crammed with youngsters which was then attacked by more
than 50 other drunken youths who surrounded the bus and forced it to a
standstill.

Bexley police were flooded with calls from the public at 6.45pm on February
15, as the woman bus driver tried to prevent the bus from being stormed.

The man got on the single-decker bus at Sidcup station on his way home from
work.

He quickly realised it was already crammed with teenagers who were drinking
from cans of beer and passing whisky and vodka bottles between them.

The bus turned into Faraday Avenue, where a crowd of other youngsters were
at the bus stop.

They surged into the road to force the bus to stop. They then started
banging on the windscreen because the driver would not open the doors.

"So they kicked the doors open and surged onto the bus," he said. "The noise
was incredible and the bus was heaving."

He said while the bus driver called for help on her mobile phone, some of
the youngsters were forced off the bus because it was so packed.

"Those on the bus stood on the seats punching the roof and swinging on the
straps trying to kick out the windows.

"And those outside were kicking the bus and headbutting it, also trying to
smash the windows."

Several young passengers began slashing the seats with knives while others
were trying to etch the bus windows.

As he and the other terrified adults tried to stay calm, he said some of the
youngsters then starting attacking nearby cars jumping up and down on them.

He added: "They broke into one and started flashing its lights and sounding
the horn.

"They broke the bus's emergency doors and then started lashing out at
passing vehicles."

Eventually a police van arrived, but there were only two officers.

"They decided all they could do was protect the driver," he claimed.

The City worker and two fellow passengers managed to escape the bus and get
on a following 492.

A group of about 10 of the young people had moved to the next bus stop in
Station Road and tried to get on the 492 but were ordered off by the driver.

"When we got to Sidcup High Street there was another rampaging crowd of
young people at the bus stop throwing bottles and cans and the driver
wouldn't stop," he said.

"I have seen riots on television and in London but in my worst nightmare I
couldn't imagine anything like this happening."

He said some of the girls were as young as 12.

"They were apparently all going to an under-18 disco at Deja Vu in Swanley
and had decided to get tanked up beforehand.

"There was nothing the two police officers could do. They were so violent.
People have no idea what is going on in Sidcup these days."

Police confirmed a window was smashed on a second bus in nearby Longlands
Road about 20 minutes later.


10:10am Wednesday 23rd February 2005

"Rich Mallard" wrote in message
...
From:
http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/ne..._the_buses.php

Terror on the buses
By Linda Piper


A COMMUTER has described how he was caught up in a riot of drunken
teenagers
on his way home from work.

And in nearby Dartford:

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/4303825.stm

Passengers using the Gravesend to Dartford railway line in Kent are
having
to travel on shorter trains because of vandalism at the weekend.

Six trains were out of commission on Monday after suffering damage estimated
at £6,000.

The worst damage occurred on Saturday night when youths travelling on four
trains between the two towns smashed 102 windows from inside the carriages.

Another 71 windows were smashed on two more trains using the same line.

Two youths were arrested by Kent Police after a train was stopped outside
Northfleet station.

Officers said they were searching for another four people.

South Eastern Trains warned passengers to expect short notice alterations
and delays on some of its services as a result of the vandalism.

So that's 173 windows smashed at the weekend? What the hell is happening
around here???

Rich

Rich Mallard wrote:

So that's 173 windows smashed at the weekend? What the hell is
happening
around here???

Seen the same in the West Midlands. On one occaision a bus was
effectively demolished. This was witnessed by a number of other
customers who wrere too afraid to do anything. Despite those on board
camera's no-one ever seems to get punished or publicly made an example
of. I suspect this maybe because the culprits are juveniles.

How much damage will it take before our society takes notice of what is
going on and stands up to it?

Rather than trying to talk nicely to them, perhaps we should have
regime where you get one chance. Do it again and off with your
******** or something.

"James Christie" wrote in message
...
In message .com,
"grid58 (Paul)" may have written...

Rich Mallard wrote:

So that's 173 windows smashed at the weekend? What the hell is
happening
around here???

Seen the same in the West Midlands. On one occaision a bus was
effectively demolished. This was witnessed by a number of other
customers who wrere too afraid to do anything. Despite those on board
camera's no-one ever seems to get punished or publicly made an example
of. I suspect this maybe because the culprits are juveniles.

How much damage will it take before our society takes notice of what is
going on and stands up to it?

Rather than trying to talk nicely to them, perhaps we should have
regime where you get one chance. Do it again and off with your
******** or something.

Or indeed, as is oft called for up here in the local and national
newspapers, Bring Back the Birch!

But that's never going to happen, nor should it. We don't inflict pain on
people to control their behavior anymore, and thank goodness for that. It
demeans our civilised soceity to even contemplate it, I think.

Not sure if it was common in England or not, but it lasted pretty late in
Scotland, and for minor offences the punishment was a set number of lashes
by the 'birch' (small branches tethered together).
Either that, send the little *******s off to the Army.

We need to know what's going on in their heads before drawing any
conclusions. This is all purely reactive stuff, but we need to stop this
situation from happening in the first place. What has made these kids into
violent, aggressive morons? If we can find out, we might just have a chance
of changing it.

It doesn't matter how severe you make the penalty, the fact is that they
aren't being caught in the first place! So this is perhaps all really
rather academic...

Rich

"grid58 (Paul)" wrote in message
oups.com...

Rich Mallard wrote:

So that's 173 windows smashed at the weekend? What the hell is
happening
around here???

Seen the same in the West Midlands. On one occaision a bus was
effectively demolished. This was witnessed by a number of other
customers who wrere too afraid to do anything. Despite those on board
camera's no-one ever seems to get punished or publicly made an example
of. I suspect this maybe because the culprits are juveniles.

I think the trouble is the kids know that the police/authorities etc don't
take this sufficiently seriously. They know they will probably get away
with it (and let's face it - they're right).

How much damage will it take before our society takes notice of what is
going on and stands up to it?

When there is a rise in vigilantism in reaction to it (then all of a sudden
it will be a priority).

Rather than trying to talk nicely to them, perhaps we should have
regime where you get one chance. Do it again and off with your
******** or something.

They are a product and reflection of our society and of their parents.
They're not going to to be the offspring of wealthy, attentive parents, I
wager, but the offspring of the those parents who couldn't give a damn (and
have probably never talked to them nicely in their life). We need more
information before we can draw any conclusions about how to deal with it...
but actually catching the culprits would be a good start!

Rich

On Mon, 28 Feb 2005 17:40:54 +0000, James Christie wrote:

send the little *******s off to the Army.

I always wondered about the logic of that. Here's a sociopath, what
shall we do with him? Ah, the perfect thing, put a rifle in his hand.
--
http://gallery120232.fotopic.net/p12161698.html
(ex-GWR Railcar 22 in fine form at Didcot in 1995)

On 28 Feb 2005 09:22:56 -0800, "grid58 (Paul)"
wrote:


Rich Mallard wrote:

So that's 173 windows smashed at the weekend? What the hell is
happening
around here???

Seen the same in the West Midlands. On one occaision a bus was
effectively demolished. This was witnessed by a number of other
customers who wrere too afraid to do anything. Despite those on board
camera's no-one ever seems to get punished or publicly made an example
of. I suspect this maybe because the culprits are juveniles.

How much damage will it take before our society takes notice of what is
going on and stands up to it?

Rather than trying to talk nicely to them, perhaps we should have
regime where you get one chance. Do it again and off with your
******** or something.

Some people were prosecuted for a riot in Croydon last year in which a
tram was reported to have been damaged. Amazingly, someone wrote to
the local paper complaining about their sentences.
--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

Chris Tolley wrote:

On Mon, 28 Feb 2005 17:40:54 +0000, James Christie wrote:

send the little *******s off to the Army.

I always wondered about the logic of that. Here's a sociopath, what
shall we do with him? Ah, the perfect thing, put a rifle in his hand.


Yes, there is a strange logic in putting people with no self
discipline into a career where they will never be able to learn it.

This is of course the most likely reason why ex-service personnel are
so strongly over-represented in the prison population, and in almost
every other accepted measure of social dysfunction.



Tony

They are a product and reflection of our society and of their parents.
They're not going to to be the offspring of wealthy, attentive parents, I
wager, but the offspring of the those parents who couldn't give a damn
(and have probably never talked to them nicely in their life). We need
more information before we can draw any conclusions about how to deal with
it... but actually catching the culprits would be a good start!

It's societies fault. It's their parent's fault. It's the environment's
fault. It's the school system's fault. It's everybody's and everything's
bloody fault but it's not their fault.

With attitudes like that, no wonder many kids are like they are.

Funny, when we used to beat the crap outta kids who did this sort of thing,
kids didn't do this sort of thing.

I've a feeling that there's a correlation in there somewhere.


--
Cheers
Roger T.

Home of the Great Eastern Railway
http://www.highspeedplus.com/~rogertra/

In message , Chris Tolley
may have written...
On Mon, 28 Feb 2005 17:40:54 +0000, James Christie wrote:

send the little *******s off to the Army.

I always wondered about the logic of that. Here's a sociopath, what
shall we do with him? Ah, the perfect thing, put a rifle in his hand.

I'd have a thought a sociopath would be absolutely ideal for the Army.
Someone who's prepared to Kill and follow orders, with no conscience.
Wasn't there a TV documentary on a few months back which gave the
statistic that only a small percentage of soldiers in Big Mistake 2
actually shot (aimed) at the enemy, they couldn't bring themselves to do
it.
--
Regards,

James Christie


THE OPTIMIST, PESSIMIST & BI ENGINEER

To the optimist, the glass is half full.
To the pessimist, the glass is half empty.
To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
To the BI engineer, the glass is only half as big as it needs to be
...... and it's bloody near empty. "BOY".


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