Sick pensioner hit by bottle on bus

Edward Keats, from Bexhill, was returning from an outpatient's appointment at the Conquest Hospital last Monday when he was hit on the head by a flying bottle.

The missile was thrown by a pupil from Helenswood School, who was behaving rowdily with friends at the back of the bus.

Mr Keats, whose wife was also struck on the shoulder, was hurt and shaken by the incident and reported it to the driver.

When he called Stagecoach several days later he was told the conduct of children was not its responsibility and to take the complaint to the school.

Mr Keats said: "I asked the driver to take the name of the offender but when I rang on Friday the person I spoke to said he did not know anything about it. I received no apology or assurance that something would be done.

"The girl who threw the bottle was fourteen or fifteen years old, not a child. You can expect some high spirits from children. I have nothing against that. This young girl was full of high spirits and was hitting other young people on the head with the bottle. Then she threw it at others and it missed and hit me on the head. My wife Pearl was also hit on the shoulder. When I challenged the girl I just got the usual abuse.

"I had just had a CT scan. I wasn't feeling too well and this girl was screaming all the time with such a high piercing voice.

"I am sure she did not intend to hit me but she caught me on the back of the head and it hurt. She was messing about but it was just over the top.

"When Stagecoach denied responsibility it made me furious."

Sean Catt, operations manager at Stagecoach in Bexhill said he was aware of the incident and investigations were continuing.

"The driver did report the incident and we are trying to find out who the girl was. Investigations are still underway and when the outcome is known we will be talking to Mr Keats.

"But the school concerned is pro-active in dealing with disruptive children on buses and we have had some success in excluding disruptive or abusive children from buses."

Jenny Blackburn, head teacher at Helenswood told the Observer she was disappointed she had only just heard of the incident - a week after it had happened.

"I am saddened Stagecoach saw fit not to inform the school about this earlier. The sooner incidents such as these were reported the easier it is to discover the person concerned.

"If we can find out who was responsible we will talk to her about her behaviour and to her parents.

"I apologise to Mr Keats for this girl's behaviour. Youngsters can be thoughtless and a bunch of high-spirited children can be intimidating, as we are forever telling them."

Mrs Blackburn added she was pleased with the school's record on school buses this year.

"We have had some problems in the past but are delighted that so far this year incidents like this have been very few and far between."