YOBS have smashed the windows of a school bus in an airgun attack.
The £140,000 coach was parked at Llanrumney Rugby Club in Cardiff, ready to take children home from nearby St Teilo’s School. But when the driver returned to the vehicle at 2pm on Thursday he discovered the damage to two of the bus’s 4ft by 5ft panes.
Owners Edwards Coaches estimate the damage will cost £1,000 to repair and the company will lose the same amount in business while the bright yellow vehicle is off the road. Emblazoned on the side of the bus are the words “Safer school transport”.
Edwards Coaches’ boss Jason Edwards said: “I don’t know what time it happened. We did not see anyone but we can see the pellet holes (in the shattered glass). “They have put two windows through on the passenger side windows at the back of the bus.” The pellets shattered the outer “skin” of the 5mm thick window before hitting the second layer of glass.
Mr Edwards said: “It’s not something we are used to. “What if the kids were on it and it was going up the road? We have reported it to the police and we are being fully supportive of the investigation.”
The damage was discovered when the driver went to check the state of the vehicle before he drove to the school for the afternoon run. It had been targeted as it was at the end of a line of coaches in the car park – so was the easiest one for the shooter to hit.
Mr Edwards said: “The driver took about two seconds to notice. The glass was broken off and you could clearly see two holes. “They must have had a bit of a shooting range. There were five or six coaches down there for the day, and it is the one coach they have targeted. “I don’t know why it has happened. It’s just kids isn’t it? It’s vandalism.”
Mr Edwards did not think the attack was motivated by malice. He said: “I would like to think we’ve got a pretty good relationship with everyone because we just do our job to the best of our ability,” he said.
A South Wales Police inquiry into the incident is ongoing.
