Man to pay compensation after refusing to pay, get off bus
A student who slapped a bus driver, leaving him with ongoing hearing loss, over an unpaid fare has been ordered to pay $1000 in compensation.
Police & Courts
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A STUDENT has been ordered to pay $1000 to a Brisbane City Council bus driver whom he assaulted, after refusing to pay a fare or leave the bus.
Matthew Satterly, 44, a driver for 12 years, has been left with ongoing hearing loss in one ear as a result of being slapped on the side of his face by Jordan North last year.
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A police prosecutor told Brisbane Magistrates Court there had been prolific assaults by members of the public against bus drivers, nurses, police and ambulance officers.
“There seems to be just this continuous manner of offending, when people just ordinarily employed, just going about their job, are assaulted and used, I guess, as punching bags,” Sgt Kylie Vanderbyl said.
Mr Satterly was driving an almost full bus along Cavendish Rd, Coorparoo, at 6.30pm on July 30, last year, when North got on the bus and was unable to pay with a Go card.
Mr Satterly told North he could not travel for free, but the student indicated he did not intend to pay, Brisbane Magistrates Court heard.
Mr Satterly refused to move the bus until North paid or left and despite another passenger offering to pay North’s fare, the driver refused to take the student further.
Police prosecutor Sgt Kylie Vanderbyl said after two female passengers also demanded he get off, North left, yelling at the driver: “You’re f---ing pathetic. Shut the f--- up.”
Sgt Vanderbyl said North re-entered the bus, stood over the driver, in an aggressive manner, and used an open hand to slap Mr Satterly across the right side of his face.
North, 24, a TAFE business student, pleaded guilty today to assault occasioning bodily harm to the driver.
Sgt Vanderbyl said it was a very serious form of bodily harm, with a doctor saying Mr Satterly has suffered a partial right ear hearing loss, with ongoing symptoms.
It had been a completely unprovoked slap, she said.
The court was told the assault occurred on North’s 23rd birthday, and at the time North, who suffers from anxiety and depression, had an ankle injury and did not want to walk up a hill.
When Magistrate Noel Nunan asked if North had apologised to the driver, his solicitor said he would make an apology on his behalf.
Mr Nunan placed North, who had no previous convictions, on 12 months’ probation and did not record a conviction, but ordered him to pay $1000 compensation to Mr Satterly.
“If we want our public transport system to work, that means that people have to pay,” Mr Nunan said.
Outside court, Mr Satterly said he thought the sentence was fair.
“He’s a young man who has made a mistake. I want him to get on with his life,” Mr Satterly said.
But he said assaults on drivers had to stop. “We are not society’s punching bags,” said Mr Satterly, who had six months off work after the assault.
Tram, Rail and Bus Union spokesman Tom Brown said while assaults against bus drivers had declined during the pandemic, there had been three in the last month.