Bus leaves John, 4, miles from his home
Good Samaritans find traumatised pupil wandering alone on busy street
Terrified boy found wandering alone in freezing weather
A FOUR-YEAR-OLD boy was found wandering alone in freezing temperatures after he was left on a school bus six miles from home. John Robertson was supposed to have been dropped off at his doorstep in North Kessock in the Highlands.
But his parents say he was still on the bus when the driver left it at a depot in Inverness.
John sat scared and crying before getting off and attempting to make his way home.
The journey would have meant crossing the Kessock Bridge, which carries the busy A9 over the Beauly Firth. Luckily, John was spotted wandering along a busy Inverness street by two women who took him to a police station.
His mum Nikki said: “They could have saved his life.
“We have no idea how long he was on his own before he was taken to the police. That road is so busy that anything could have happened.”
Nikki called Munlochy Primary School, where John is a primary one pupil, at 4pm, 20 minutes after he usually arrived home.
She was told he had been put on the bus. There followed a series of frantic calls to family and the bus company D&E Coaches.
The family claim the firm initially said John had been dropped off, then claimed he had not got on the bus at all.
At 4.30pm, John was reported missing to police.
While officers were taking a statement, word came in that a traumatised boy had been brought to a police station in Inverness.
Nikki said: “He is terrified now. He just keeps saying that he was lost.”
John said the driver parked the bus and got off without him. He waited for the driver to get back and when that didn’t happen, he got off and started trying to find his way home.
Nikki said: “No words can describe the feeling of having to phone the police and say your son is missing.”
She said the school bus system has to change.
Nikki added: “The drivers should be checking their buses for bags and jackets left behind – but this is a child, not a bag.”
A Highland Council spokeswoman said: “We are extremely concerned about this and are carrying out a full investigation with our contracted school transport provider.”
Police are also investigating.
No one from D&E Coaches was available to comment.
We have no idea how long he was on his own for. Anything could have happened MUM NIKKI