Jack Snelgrove: Balgowlah Boys high school students attacked by drunk on bus

A man who was drinking from a bottle of rum when he assaulted two 14-year-old northern beaches schoolboys on a bus, has been sentenced in Manly court.

A man who was sitting on a bus to Manly while drinking a bottle of rum attacked two 14-year-old boys on their way home from school on a weekday afternoon. Picture: Manly Daily

A drunk man convicted of attacking two 14-year-old northern beaches schoolboys on a public bus has been sentenced in Manly Local Court.

Jack Snelgrove, 24, who was drinking from a bottle of rum on the 144 bus, slapped one of the students from Balgowlah Boys High School on the back of the head.

Snelgrove, from Manly, also pushed the other boy before ripping a mobile phone out of his hand and smashing it on the floor of the bus.

Two 14-year-old students from Balgowlah Boys High were assaulted on a bus on their way home from school by a man drinking a bottle of rum. File picture: Troy Snook

The driver on the State Transit bus — which runs from Chatswood to Manly — was so concerned for the safety of the boys, and his other passengers on the afternoon of December 2 that he contacted police and pulled the vehicle up outside Manly police station where Snelgrove was arrested.

Snelgrove pleaded guilty, in Manly Local Court earlier this month to two counts of common assault and one count of destroy property — a $500 Samsung mobile phone.

The court heard that the unemployed Snelgrove has Borderline Personality Disorder and had issues with alcohol and drugs.

In Manly Court on Thursday, Snelgrove also pleaded guilty to another common assault charge. He punched a young man in the eye outside the Manly Wharf hotel on January 21 after Snelgrove had been accused of harassing the man’s female friend.

In a facts sheet tendered to court police wrote that Snelgrove was sitting near the back of the full 144 bus drinking from a bottle of rum when the two boys wearing school uniforms, along with other students, boarded the bus on Sydney Rd, near the school.

The driver was so worried about the safety of his passengers that he stopped the 144 bus outside Manly police station. Picture: Manly Daily.

Snelgrove said to one the boys that “if any of yas f***in’ bump me I’ll knock yas out.”

Shortly after the bus begin moving the boy felt someone hit the back of his head with an open hand.

Snelgrove then grabbed the boy’s right shoulder and yelled: “Shut the f*** up” and called the boy a “mullet” and a “rat”.

Minutes later, as the bus was pulling into a stop on Sydney Rd, near Manly Oval, Snelgrove stood up and started leaning against the arm and chest of the second victim.

Snelgrove pulled an Airpod ear piece out the boy’s ear and said: “I know you took a picture of me.”

The boy denied taking any photos of Snelgrove who then grabbed the phone from the boy and threw it violently to the floor of the bus, smashing its screen.

Jack Snelgrove was sentecned in Manly Local Court on February 18. Picture: Manly Daily

Snelgrove tried to get off the bus, but the driver kept the doors closed and drove to the nearby police station.

Magistrate Bruce Williams said Snelgrove was a young man who had “real prospects of rehabilitation” and that he had concerns for him being kept in custody.

Snelgrove was given an 18-month Community Corrections Order to be of good behaviour and to be supervised by probation authorities who, Mr Williams said, would “point you in the right direction”.