The Canberra Times brings word of the efforts made by one Thomas Johnston to make us all afraid of our bus drivers.
Thomas Johnston, 49, of Latham, was charged with administering a harmful substance to another person that was likely to endanger their life.
He was also charged with having child pornography.
Johnston allegedly gave the girl ether on Monday, knocking her out.
The girl and her parents complained a short time later.
This charming man is now out on bail.
I have a sneaking suspicion if it was my child another person would be getting knocked out as well, probably more than once
Maybe Action should have a sanity test for it’s drivers before they are employed. Last year I had a School bus driver who was a nut, I spent an extra 10 minutes walking to a public bus stop near my school every afternoon to get home so I could avoid catching a bus with a looney for a driver. Our morning driver was okay though.
ABC News reports that the incident happened at his house, and involved an eight year old girl.
can’t believe he’s out on bail! oh wait – yes i can, it’s canberra
sunshine said :
Murderers get out on bail. But then, they’re technically not murders if they are never convicted…
I can’t believe he’s still driving buses.
Why the hell does a 49 year old bus driver have ether?
sepi said :
I somehow doubt he’ll be going back to work.
Wasn’t it only recently that ACTION were employing drivers with drink-driving convictions! Seems ACTION also could do with some clandestine monitoring of their drivers. I keep hearing of drivers who are so rough that standing passengers cannot remain upright. In the worst cases even the seated passengers would benefit from seat belts.
Eight year old girl and ether?
Enough said I reckon…
sepi said :
A friend told me apparently he was to go back to work today but on the condition that he does not work in the suburb where the girl lived, and apparently if he did end up at work the rest of the drivers are going to strike, the guy who told me this had had a few scotch’s though.
It’s bad enough that this nutbag is driving buses at all but please tell me it wasn’t a school bus!
A lot has been made of the fact that this monster is a bus driver, when in fact what is more scary is that he was a member of a community… OUR community. God only knows how many other victims he has, and would have continued to have had in the future if this brave family had not come forth!
We live in a world that is not as safe as we would like to think, and if any good is to come of this tragic situation, let it be a warning to us all that no matter how well you think you know someone, or how safe a place you think Canberra is, there are real monsters out there, and when it comes to our kids, we can never be too careful.
My heart goes out to that precious little girl and her family…
p1 said :
Maybe he builds models and such. It is completely legal as the legitimate uses outweigh the illegitimate uses. He could have used chloroform to the same effect. This does not excuse what he did though.
It’s a terrible thing to happen – and I can’t begin to imagine how it would feel it were my daughter.
That said, the message to take away from this is *not* that everyone is out to get you and that the world is a scary, threatening place, and we should all be as paranoid as possible. Once you start living like that, you’ll do almost as much psychological damage to your children as a bus-driver with ether.
Bloody hell, is it too difficult to suspend the bloke on full pay until his trial? I know we’re in the ACT and, Human Rights Act notwithstanding, a trial could be two years away, but I think its worth it to secure kids who may ride on his bus. Of course he’s not going to grab one in transit, but a driver is still in a position to groom victims.
I wonder if they found “ether” in the eight year old girls system? that would prove if he is guilty or innocent.