Ban them!

A Bridgetown magistrate wants parents to ban their children from riding on minibuses and route taxis.

Magistrate Graveney Bannister made the suggestion on Saturday as he dealt with a 15-year-old Frederick Smith Secondary School student charged with wounding a minibus conductor earlier this month.

The incident allegedly occurred after the minibus conductor demanded bus fare and the boy refused to pay. The conductor suffered deep lacerations to his hands, one of which took 15 stitches, after he was allegedly cut with a cutlass.

There were also reports of a fight among schoolchildren on board the bus.

The boy, who was accompanied in court by his parents, was released on bail and is to appear in the Holetown Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday. As part of his bail, he has been banned from using public service vehicles (PSVs).

Stressing that his children would never be allowed to take such transportation to school, the magistrate said: “I don’t know why parents don’t ban their children from getting on these PSVs. I don’t know why; parents have that right.

“The music and the behaviour on these PSVs are not the right things for children who can be easily impressed by adults,” he said. (HLE)

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