London bus drivers suffer at least 60 spitting attacks since start of lockdown, TfL chief reveals

Bus drivers have suffered at least 60 cases of being spat at since lockdown began, London’s transport chief revealed today.

Police investigations into spitting attacks are being prioritised because of the threat of coronavirus and CCTV and Oyster card data is being used to trace offenders, Transport for London commissioner Mike Brown said.

One attacker who spat at the driver when he was told he had to enter through the middle doors was jailed for 10 months.

Another man who became aggressive and spat at the driver’s Perspex screen and in the cash tray, before spitting at a police officer called by the driver to help, was jailed for 42 weeks.

Mr Brown said: “There has been a concerning increase in spitting incidents against bus drivers during this pandemic.

"There have been a total of 60 reports of spitting at bus drivers since the start of lockdown.”

In a report to today’s TfL board meeting, Mr Brown said the investigations were being prioritised by the Met police’s roads and transport policing command (RTPC) and TfL’s workplace violence team because of the “serious nature of the threat it poses to bus drivers”.

He added: “The RTPC have provided additional resources and we are using CCTV, Oyster card data and DNA spit kits to quickly identify, catch and charge offenders.”

At least 43 London transport workers are believed to have died with coronavirus – six TfL employees, 33 who worked for London bus firms and four who worked for TfL partner organisations.

There have also been an unknown number of deaths of taxi and minicab drivers.

It is not thought that any of the spitting attacks caused a death from coronavirus.

Last month British Transport Police ruled out suggestions that the death from Covid-19 of Belly Mujinga, 47, a train ticket worker, was linked to a spitting attack she suffered at Victoria station.

About 2,700 bus staff have been unable to work either because they were shielding or have a vulnerable relative.

The Director of Public Prosecutions, Max Hill QC, has warned that people who deliberately cough or spit at key workers and emergency staff face up to a year in jail. He said: “Any offending related to coronavirus will be treated as the highest priority.”

Front-door boarding restarted on Saturday after being suspended at the peak of the pandemic in London. Gaps around the driver’s cab screen have been sealed off with a layer of plastic film.

Siwan Hayward, director of compliance and policing at TfL, said: “This increase in spitting incidents is horrific and we are supporting all colleagues who have experienced this disgusting crime.

"We condemn all forms of violence and abuse, and we’re working closely with the police to deter offenders by pushing for the strongest sentences.

“Safety is our absolute priority and we will continue doing all that we can to protect our staff and customers. We urge everyone to be considerate to transport staff, who deserve to be treated with respect.”

Last month a 42-year-old man, Spencer James, pleaded guilty at Willesden Crown Court on to assault on an emergency worker, racially aggravated assault and using threatening words or behaviour.

The court heard police were called to a bus on Wealdstone High Street on March 31 to reports of a man acting aggressively.

James had boarded the bus and sat down without paying. When the driver told him to pay or get off, he shouted racist insults, and punched the screen of the driver's cab four times, with such force he cut his hand and smeared blood on it. He then spat at the screen and in the tray of the driver's cab.

He continued to shout racist abuse at the bus driver and then spat at a police officer. He was sentenced to 42 weeks' jail.

In another case, William Cawley, 23, was sentenced to 10 months after pleading guilty to two counts of common assault on April 22 at Uxbridge Magistrates Court.

Two days earlier, he spat at a bus driver at Uxbridge station when he entered a bus through the wrong door. In custody he spat at a police officer and claimed he was infected with coronavirus.

In a third attack, Ashley Silverwood, 35, was sentenced at Westminster magistrates’ court on May 7 to six months in prison after pleading guilty to racially aggravated common assault.

He had been found by a female Tube worker to be sleeping on a train at Ruislip Gardens station last December. He spat on her face and uniform and racially abused her, and urinated in the booking hall on his way out of the station.

Silverwood was identified by DNA analysis of the saliva sample on her high-vis vest.

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