School children terrified as thug Paul Fuller attacks bus with a brick in Sittingbourne, Kent
A school bus operator believes a thug who attacked a bus with a brick, terrifying pupils, was let off too lightly.
The shocking moment a thug attacked a school bus with a brick was captured on camera. The bus was carrying secondary school pupils in Sittingbourne, Kent, when the attack unfolded.
Footage captured by a passing motorist shows Paul Fuller repeatedly smashing the side window of a vehicle during the attack, in April last year. He became violent after being refused entry to the bus, it has been reported, with Tim Lambkin, managing director of school bus operator Travel Masters, saying the bus driver had been "outstanding" in his actions to stop Fuller getting on.
The incident happened on London Road, as the bus was on its way to the Isle of Sheppey. Mr Lambkin said: “If this guy had boarded the bus, then there may have been altercations involving students. That’s not acceptable.
“As far as I’m concerned, parents put their trust in us to bring their children to and from school on a daily basis, and that’s what we have to do. I can honestly say, on this occasion, our staff are all immense, as they normally are anyway.
“You can imagine being a driver of a bus – you’ve got 80 to 90 schoolkids on and this guy is bashing the hell out of the side windows of the bus to try and get in. It must have been so worrying – he was stuck in traffic, the traffic lights were on red and nothing was moving. To handle that situation in that way was really, really good.”
At Medway Magistrates’ Court on March 3, Fuller, of Sittingbourne, pleaded guilty to one charge of criminal damage and one charge of assault by beating. He was handed an 18-week jail sentence suspended for one year, and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work, and to pay £689 – made up of £150 compensation to Travel Masters, £300 compensation to the driver, a victim surcharge of £154, and costs of £85.
However, Mr Lambkin believes he got off too lightly, and added: “It’s absolutely terrible – to just get a £150 fine, that is just what the damage to the window would have cost us. The vehicle was off the road for two days, the driver was inconvenienced, and the amount we had to do reassuring parents with phone calls, it’s just not enough.
“The most important thing is that glass is replaceable. If he’d got on the bus, who knows what would have happened? It’s an inconvenience and it was not good for the kids, but he’s been convicted. I don’t think it’s the right sentence, but there you go.”