Crimestoppers and Arriva offers £10k reward for information on serious assault

PLEASE NOTE: The woman sought in this press release has since handed herself in to police. Please read the press note on this.

Crime-fighting charity, Crimestoppers, and bus operator, Arriva London, are offering a joint reward of up to £10,000 for crucial information leading to an arrest and conviction for the serious assault on one of Arriva's bus drivers in Haringey, north London. [2 December 2009]

A woman with a young child in a pushchair mounted a serious, unprovoked attack on a female bus driver of the 221 bus route. The victim was left with a broken arm and dislocated shoulder. The attack took place on Haringey at the junction of West Green Road and Turnpike Lane opposite Ducketts Common on 31 October 2008.

The suspect appeared to be asking directions from the bus driver but then attacked her for no apparent reason causing her facial injuries. The suspect then threw the victim from the bus to the pavement causing a broken arm and dislocated shoulder. CCTV footage of the attack can be viewed on Crimestoppers Most Wanted website.

"Utterly despicable"

The incident is being investigated by the joint Metropolitan Police Service and Transport for London Safer Transport Command Workplace Violence Unit, which deals with physical violence, threats and abuse against London's bus workers.

The reward of up to £10,000 is available to anyone providing information to Crimestoppers, which leads to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for this crime.

Rewards can only be claimed by calling Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Rewards cannot be claimed if giving information via the online form.

Dave Cording, Crimestoppers' Director of Operations said: “For this woman to attack another so violently and in front a child is utterly despicable. We are urging the public to pass on any information they may have to Crimestoppers anonymously to help police catch this perpetrator. No personal details are taken and communication routes are not traced or recorded – no one will know who you are.”

Chief Superintendent Joe Royle, MPS Safer Transport Command said: “The Safer Transport Command is working together with its policing partners to keep London moving safely.

“People who think they can threaten and assault front line staff and get away with it are wrong. We are determined that all offenders of bus violence are brought to justice and we will leave no stone unturned in our endeavour to do so.

“However without successful identification there can be no arrests. With the help of Crimestoppers there is an even stronger chance of identification through the local community to whom we are extremely grateful for any information received.

“If you assault a bus driver, Revenue Protection Inspector, or any frontline staff, you will be caught and prosecuted with the aid of CCTV and any other means at our disposal.”

-ENDS-

For further information contact Crimestoppers' press office.

Notes to editors:

• Crimestoppers is an independent charity which helps the police to solve crimes, making communities safer. It does this by operating the 24/7 telephone number 0800 555 111 which people can ring to pass on information about crimes anonymously. They can also use our ‘giving information' form on this website.
• Around 19 people are arrested and charged every day as a result of information given to Crimestoppers. One person every six days is charged with murder.
• Since Crimestoppers began in 1988, it has received over a million actionable calls, resulting in over 95,000 arrests and charges. Over £110 million worth of property has been recovered and over £178 million worth of drugs.
• In 2005, Crimestoppers launched the UK's Most Wanted on its website which allows the public to view images of criminals and pass on vital information about their whereabouts. It has been highly successful with over 710 arrests to date from 3,400 thousand appeals posted.
• Crimestoppers UK was founded by Lord Ashcroft, KCMG, Chairman of Trustees. In 1988, he launched Crimestoppers in the Metropolitan Police area. Crimestoppers ‘call to action' is built on a three-way partnership between the business community, the police and the media.

MPS / TFL notes to editors

• MPS Safer Transport Command (STC), primarily funded by Transport for London (TfL) at a cost of around £95 million a year, (formerly known as TOCU – Transport Operational Command Unit) fights crime on buses, tackles illegal taxi touts; and assists with the control of traffic congestion.
• The joint MPS Safer Transport Command/Transport for London Workplace Violence Unit, which deals with violent offences towards London's buses workers, is an initiative established in September 2008 after a need was identified for a pan-London, specialist, dedicated investigative unit to tackle workplace violence against frontline bus staff.
• Overall there are more than 2,000 Police Officers and PCSOs dedicated to the bus network in London - more than ever before. The reduction in bus related crime is now just 12 crimes per million passenger journeys – and has been assisted by visible policing by officers from the Safer Transport Command.
• Buses remain a low crime environment and anecdotally are now cleaner and tidier with fewer occurrences of scratching on the windows.
• The most recent crime statistics for 2008/9 gathered by Transport for London (TfL) and the MPS show that compared to the same period last year, crimes committed on or around the bus network in London have been reduced by 18 per cent. The statistics also show that the most significant reductions have been in:
  • Criminal damage (down 36 per cent)
  • Robberies (down 35 per cent)
• London buses carry 6.4m passengers a day on 700 routes across the capital and TfL has also installed CCTV on every London bus. There are now around 60,000 cameras on the fleet of 8,500.
• Transport for London is distributing DNA kits to all London Buses operators and is providing training to each operator so that bus drivers are properly briefed on how to use the kits which have been introduced to tackle abuse on bs workers.