Metro bus brawl: Mother, son caught up in youth incident call for transit officers

A Tassie mum who witnessed a wild youth brawl on an Eastern Shore Metro bus while travelling with her 9yo son is calling for the return of transit officers for passengers’ safety.

Leanne Curtis of Hobart who was with her young son on a Metro bus from Rosny when disruption broke out amongst youths who were also on the bus causing distress to other passengers. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

A METRO customer who witnessed a wild youth brawl on an Eastern Shore bus says only a return of transit officers can improve passenger safety.

Leanne Curtis and her nine-year-old son were aboard a bus when a brawl broke out between two groups of youths at Howrah on Saturday afternoon.

“It was like wild animals that had escaped from the zoo,” she said.

“You don’t pay to catch the bus to see that sort of anti-social behaviour.

“I had my little boy with me. I just took him off the bus because I wanted to get him out of it while the bus driver was waiting for the police, and a couple of young girls threatened me and my little boy.”

Ms Curtis said a small number of young people aged from about 11 continue to make bus travel unpleasant for other passengers.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen it that bad,’’ she said.

“They get let on the bus for free, they’re rude to other passengers, they carry knives sometimes. People are too scared to go out.”

Ms Curtis said a two-week trial of transit security officers last year had led to a big improvement and should be considered again.

“It might stop a lot of these buses from being cancelled too, that’s because the drivers don’t want to drive,” she said.

Rosny bus mall, Metro bus and Tasmania Police. Picture: Chris Kidd

Local MP David O’Byrne said transit officers would help reduce anti-social behaviour on public transport.

“We’re not expecting Metro to solve the world’s ills. It’s about making sure that they can conduct a public transport system safely so people can catch buses,” he said.

“There’s multiple layers of responsibility for government to respond to this, but all we’re asking for is Metro to make the buses safe.

“We know there’s a bigger issue around youth crime, but the travelling public, young kids, people who rely on buses to get to work, pensioners, deserve to be able to catch the bus safely.”

Tasmania Police said officers responded to the incident.

“Police received a report of a disturbance between youths on a bus in the Bellerive-Howrah area,” a spokeswoman said. “Police attended quickly and arrived at the scene within minutes. Several youths had dispersed prior to police arrival.

“No injuries were reported and no one on the bus made a formal report to police regarding the incident.”

Anyone who witnesses anti-social or illegal behaviour is encouraged to report it to police on 131 444.