Brent TUC, Pete Firmin and Roger Cox. Dear Pete and Roger Here is my report on yesterdays race attack at Willesden bus garage. I have cced the local Labour party politicians and Unite the union Rio Wayne King. At about 13.40 yesterday (Saturday) a West Indian driver, who wears dreadlocks and is very dark skinned, was driving his bus into Willesden garage, Pound Lane entrance. Four white men jumped in front of the bus from the pavement and began shouting racist abuse, You black bastard, well get you etc. - he will supply more details on this. He inched his bus into the garage and parked next to the public entrance but they followed, punching the window until their fists bled, leaving blood on the windows and ground. It was a frenzied attack, but sensibly he did not come out of his cab. Apparently they ran off when other drivers approached. The police were called. I phoned Wayne King, the Unite full time organiser, to report the incident and ask for his assistance. He was very helpful and said he would contact senior management and I phoned the police to complain about the conduct of the officers who attended. I complained they had taken no DNA evidence, (there was blood on the bus window where they punched it) and they did not view the CCTV. They had not taken it seriously enough and did not seem to have identified it as a serious race attack in my view. When the victim inquired if he could give evidence behind a screen they told him no and he then said he would not press a prosecution, obviously in fear of his personal safety. Of course the company could prosecute and steps to protect him could have been taken instead of using this as an excuse to abandon the entire case, as the officers appear to have done. The victim also gave his account to both Wayne King and the police on my phone, making these points in more detail. I demanded the police secure the crime scene but I do not know if they did so before the big downpour. I would stress that the victim is 63 years old and very shaken by his ordeal. I heard him tell the police on my phone that he did not want to go to jail at his age as he had never been before but he would have to try to defend himself if they or their friends came after him again. He was obviously assuming, rightly or wrongly, the police had no intention of protecting him or seeking to arrest these racists. It seems the lessons of the Stephen Laurence case are still not learned. Dawn Butler and Mo Butt will want to intervene here to champion the rights of this victim, I am sure. Gerry Downing
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 10:31:44 +0000
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