Woman refused bus travel at 3am for being 20p short on bus fare is raped... What would you have done

[vicisthebest]

I have heard this story a couple of times over the last couple of weeks, and wondered about people's take on it.

Basically back in December a 22 year old woman was going home at 3am on the night bus after a Christmas night out, but only had £4.80 when the fare was £5.00. After asking to be let off the 20p, the driver refused, and nobody else on the bus offered to give her the 20p. She then asked the driver if she could run to the cashpoint which was a few steps from the bus stop, to get the money, to which he refused again, and drove away leaving her.

She rang her mum to come pick her up, but her mum was unfamiliar with the one-way system in the city so agreed to meet her a few streets away in a place that she could get to more easily.

In almost the exact place her mum was due to meet her, she was dragged into a park and beaten and raped by a 19 year old scumbag, who, as he was leaving the park, ran into the girl's mother with a police officer that she had asked for help from, worried as her daughter hadn't shown up. He then pretended to play the hero who had found the girl beaten and raped in the park.

He has now been found guilty of the crime and has been told he will face a lengthy prison sentence, while it seems that she has really got her life back on track, continued with her law course at uni and refused to let it ruin her life, so good for her.

I bet the bus driver feels some guilt. I know that the fare was £5, not £4.80, and he was probably running to a schedule and might not have had time to wait for her, but I bet he still feels awful.

My question is - if you were one of those people who was sat there on the bus as this girl pleaded to be let on the bus, or to run and get some money, what would you have done?

I can honestly say that wouldn't have hesitated to give someone 20p, if I had it. I can't imagine the guilt I would be feeling now if I had heard what happened to that girl and I had just sat there, acting like I hadn't heard what was going on (as many people on public transport seem to do).

Asked about reports that other passengers failed to give the victim the 20p she needed, the officer said: "It's difficult to speak for those people.
"We each make our own judgments and the people on that bus made their judgments that night.
"Knowing what they know now, they may wish they had given 20p."

Full story here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...s-because-she-was-20p-short-of-the-fare.html#

 

[Kamwah]

She shouldn't have bought 10 penny sweets earlier.

 

[Cosmic182]

would have let her on, given her the 20p, at that time of night? Jesus would it really harm the bus company? robbing buggers in the first place!

 

[muon]

If I was standing near the front of the bus I would have given 20p.

I'm fairly certain other people would do the same for me if I was in that position.

 

[RomanNose]

Would have given her the 20p. Seriously people are making jokes about rape? That's quite low for GD.

 

[lurkio]

if i was the driver I would have given her the 20p out of my own pocket

If I was on that bus , same again give her the 20p

 

[Tikkabhuna]

I'd have given her the money. But then I give money to most people who ask if its under £5.

 

[Morba]

I would have given her the 20p, especially at that time of night. The driver was a joke though, he should have let her on or allowed her to go get more money if the cashpoint was so close.

Doesn't mean any of them, driver included, are at fault for the rape though.

 

[dowie]

Not really the bus driver's fault. I think the passengers were a bit tight not giving her 20p - I've certainly given change to people who've realised they're slightly short of cash on the bus. But I don't think it's fair to link the bus driver with what happened later.

 

[asim18]

I would have come running from the top deck, shoved 20p down the drivers throat then walked back upstairs before giving the hobos at the back of the bottom deck a very dirty look.

Ok maybe not, but I would definitely have given her 20p. Done it before and I'd do it again.

Driver is pretty sad tbh. I see LT bus drivers letting people on without paying all the time, I've personally been allowed several times.

 

[ubersonic]

I would have done the same thing I did back in school whenever I spent a bit too much on sweets, ask for the stop before the one I wanted.

 

[deadite66]

When my dad was a bus driver any shortfall in the till had to be made up by him, i can see why bus drivers don't want to start a precedent letting under fared people on.

 

[MooMoo444]

If I was the driver I would have just let her off the 20p.

If I overheard it, I'd pay the 20p for her.

You can't link the rape to the driver the way a lot of people are however. The rapist probably had rape on his agenda anyway, if it wasn't this girl then it probably would have been another.

 

[Gilly]

I've given cash on a bus to someone that came up short before.

Done it in shops too.

 

[vicisthebest]

I would have given her the 20p, especially at that time of night. The driver was a joke though, he should have let her on or allowed her to go get more money if the cashpoint was so close.

Doesn't mean any of them, driver included, are at fault for the rape though.

Of course not. But it's strange to have it brought home in such a big way, that small and seemingly insignificant decisions that you make every day can have such a massive effect on someone else's whole life - reminds me (not meaning to be flippant here) of the film Sliding Doors, where catching or not catching the tube sent her life in completely different directions. If just one of those people on that bus that night had given her that 20p, this whole thing would have been avoided.

Of course, it was probably just wrong place, wrong time - if he hadn't raped her, he might have done it to someone else, so their life has been changed by the decision of those people on the bus too.

Strange to think about.

 

[dowie]

Tbh if we're applying blame based on how she ended up in that situation then she has more blame than the driver - why was she alone, why not book a mini cab, where were her friends etc...

 

[steve-h]

scumbag driver.

 

[aardvark]

i would have.

the bus driver really needs to share some of the blame though - if the cashpoint was so close he should have waited the couple of minutes.

 

[vicisthebest]

Not really the bus driver's fault. I think the passengers were a bit tight not giving her 20p - I've certainly given change to people who've realised they're slightly short of cash on the bus. But I don't think it's fair to link the bus driver with what happened later.

I don't blame him either, but:

Nottingham Crown Court was told that CCTV footage showed the student pleading with the driver for eight minutes before he turned her away

I would argue that if he had time to talk to her for that long, he had time to let her run to the cash point.

 

[Kamwah]

Of course not. But it's strange to have it brought home in such a big way, that small and seemingly insignificant decisions that you make every day can have such a massive effect on someone else's whole life - reminds me (not meaning to be flippant here) of the film Sliding Doors, where catching or not catching the tube sent her life in completely different directions. If just one of those people on that bus that night had given her that 20p, this whole thing would have been avoided.

Of course, it was probably just wrong place, wrong time - if he hadn't raped her, he might have done it to someone else, so their life has been changed by the decision of those people on the bus too.

Strange to think about.

While it may have been avoided it probably means that guy may have just raped someone else. Seeing as he either went out with the intention to or he was crazy enough to see an opportunity and take it =/