Three held over assault which left bus worker in hospital

Three man have been arrested following an assault on a Glider bus in west Belfast which has left a Translink employee in hospital.

The incident, in which a passenger was also assaulted, occurred shortly after 9am on Tuesday on the Andersonstown Road.

Inspector Roisin Brown said: “We received a report that a Translink employee and a passenger had been assaulted on a Glider bus along the Andersonstown Road in west Belfast.

“The males involved also caused damage to a window of the bus.

“Officers attended the incident and swiftly apprehended and arrested three males.

“Our colleague in Translink has sustained a significant injury as a result of this vicious attack and he remains in hospital where he is receiving treatment.”

She added: “This was a despicable, unprovoked act of violence on a Translink employee who was out serving the public on a busy Glider route.

“We utterly condemn it and will be working closely with our partners in Translink as we progress this investigation.

“I am appealing to anyone who may have any information which could assist, or who noticed any suspicious activity in the area, to call us on 101, and quote reference number 385 of 07/06/22.”

Three men aged 31, 33 and 42 were arrested by neighbourhood police following the incident and remain in police custody.

In a statement Translink said: “We utterly condemn this serious incident.

“The safety of our staff and passengers is our top priority.

“All our staff have the right to work without fear of abuse or violence and we will be ensuring our colleague will be offered all appropriate support.

“We are assisting the PSNI investigation, including provision of CCTV from the Glider vehicle.”

SDLP west Belfast representative Paul Doherty said: “These kinds of incidents have a negative impact on our entire community and nobody wants to see scenes like this on our streets.

“Many people in west Belfast rely on public transport to get to work, to important appointments or just to visit friends and family and attacks of this nature can lead to services being cut or withdrawn which have a huge knock-on effect.”

He added: “I hope the two people caught up in this attack make a full recovery and the Translink staff member is able to return to work as soon as possible.

“I’d ask anyone with any information about what happened to come forward to police as soon as possible.”