Bus attack: Baby hit Fury after thugs hurl missiles

A BABY was showered with glass as thugs smashed a window on a passing bus, it emerged last night.

Now Metro drivers are threatening to pull out of part of West Belfast in the wake of a series of attacks on their vehicles.

Staff say both they and passengers are being put at risk by missiles being hurled at buses from someone in the Falls Park over recent weeks.

Unite union rep Michael Dornan warned “it is only a matter of time before someone is hurt or even killed”.

He added: “We’ve had buses attacked with bricks here.

“If a bus was driving up the road at 30mph and the driver was hit you could be looking at fatalities here. In one incident a baby in a pram, sitting in the wee bit at the front of the bus, was showered with glass. “This is an ongoing situation and it needs to be addressed.”

Jackie Pollock, deputy regional secretary of the drivers’ union Unite, issued a warning on behalf of staff that they could “withdraw bus services from the Falls Park area of West Belfast”.

He added: “Over recent months our drivers have repeatedly highlighted their concerns about services in this area because of organised gathering of youths who were then carrying out various types of anti-social behaviour. Last Saturday, three Metro buses were attacked passing the same area.

“In one case the attack resulted in a young child being covered with shattered glass from a broken side window. A second attack later that night resulted in a driver being too badly traumatised to come to work the next day.

“Our drivers are now seeking assurances from community representatives that these attacks will be stopped or else they will be forced to divert and then withdraw services from these areas.”

Mr Dornan, chair of the Metro drivers’ branch of Unite, condemned Saturday’s incidents, but said they are “only the latest attacks by these mindless hooligans”. He added: “These reckless and indiscriminate