Teenage boy arrested following assault of bus driver in Speke

Officers investigating an incident of assault of a bus driver in Speke have arrested a teenage boy.

The 13-year-old boy from Speke was arrested on suspicion of Section 39 assault and Attempted criminal damage and taken to a police station. He has been conditionally bailed pending enquiries.

At around 5.15pm on Saturday 10 January, we received a report that a group of youths had started a fire on the upstairs deck of a bus parked outside Morrisons supermarket on Penketh Drive.

The youths managed to escape when the bus driver went upstairs and when he confronted them outside he was reportedly assaulted and had his glasses broken. The bus driver managed to drive away without injury.

Local Policing Sergeant Dan Hamilton said: “This arrest forms part of the investigation, as well as wider work in the area to tackle recent incidents of anti-social behaviour and crime.

“Putting hard-working members of our community in fear through violence and intimidation will never be tolerated and we will continue to proactively conduct work to reduce such incidents.

“If you have any information and have yet to come forward, please do so, directly to officers in the area, online or through our social media channels.

“We will continue to have high-visibility police presence patrolling the area, A Dispersal Zone in place, as well as regular police surgeries for residents to voice concerns.

“We're continuing to review CCTV and other evidence in order to identify those responsible and necessary action will be taken via a number of ways such as referring them to the anti-social behaviour team.

“This is a full-partnership approach where we are working with partner agencies including the bus company to resolve this and identify suspects.

“While police and partners are working together, we also need support of parents to take responsibility to prevent it from happening in the first place.

“With this, I appeal to parents and guardians, and urge them to know where their child is, what they are up to and friends they are with. It is not only to stop them causing unnecessary distress to residents in the area, but also for their own safety and welfare.”

Anyone who witnessed the incident should contact Merseyside Police social media desk via X and Facebook @MerPolCC. You can also report information via our website: https://www.merseyside.police.uk/ro/report/ocr/af/how-to-report-a-crime/ or call 101 quoting reference 26000026824.

Alternatively, contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or via their website here: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/forms/give-information-anonymously. In an emergency always call 999.

A Dispersal Zone remains in place in the area, see here for more details: Dispersal zone introduced in Speke | Merseyside Police