Rollerskate boys who were towed along in traffic must clean buses
Five youths who were condemned for endangering motorists by hitching a lift on the back of a bus will be put to work cleaning buses as a punishment dished out by police.
The group of five, aged between 12 and 15, held on to the back of a single decker and got pulled along Quarry Bank High Street, while wearing roller skates. All five youngsters were interviewed by neighbourhood police teams and warned about their actions.
Onlookers watched in disbelief as the youngsters travelled along for more than half a mile in heavy traffic from Cradley Heath to Quarry Bank.
They were captured on camera by resident Julia Chance who was even mooned at amid the traffic when the youngsters spotted her focusing her mobile phone camera on them.
It prompted National Express to condemn the actions and led to police investigating the incident on May 8.
Police said that during interviews, all five admitted the offence of being carried or towed by a motor vehicle.
But rather than taking the matter to court, officers today said they resolved the matter through a form of community punishment.
A community resolution is used by police officers to assess an offence, the wishes of the victim and the offender's history before deciding on punishment. Over the next few weeks the youngsters will help clean up a bus depot yard and West Midlands buses.
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Pc Reg Steele, of the Quarry Bank and Dudley Wood neighbourhood policing team, said: "We agreed with National Express West Midlands that a community resolution would be the best solution and would give the youngsters time to think about their reckless actions."
National Express West Midlands operations manager Raj Mishra said: "We hope that by the youngsters working with us to clean our vehicles and spending time on site with us, it will help them understand the dangers of using vehicles to tow them."
