And now, a bus driver...

Whats going on where someone would drug an 8 year old girl.

It’s time we as a society stopped tolerating this sort of behaviour.

PBO said :

They should put this clown in jail, hopefully into general population.

*if* he is guilty *sigh*

The Frots said :

PBO said :

p1 said :

Why the hell does a 49 year old bus driver have ether?

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.

This is interesting. Are you saying that ether can be readily purchased in the ACT – By anyone? Seriously, I didn’t know that. Do you need a licence for it?

This does not mean that I will advertise where to buy it though. They should put this clown in jail, hopefully into general population.

“While I agree alleged crims and their alleged crimes before the courts probably shouldn’t be discussed in any great detail, there does seem to be a trend on RA where attempts are made to shut down discussion on criminal matters by anyone other than AFP members. “

WTF are you talking about, besides showing your pig ignorance of one of the pillars of any judicial system?

BerraBoy68 said :

If an issue is posted on RA as a thread it should be open for comment and debate, otherwise what’s the point?

True, I agree. But it shouldn’t be witch hunt on a person until if and after being found guilty 🙂

PBO said :

p1 said :

Why the hell does a 49 year old bus driver have ether?

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.

This is interesting. Are you saying that ether can be readily purchased in the ACT – By anyone? Seriously, I didn’t know that. Do you need a licence for it?

Spideydog said :

BerraBoy68 said :

Sorry, I’m just waiting for VG to chime in telling you you’re all children for daring to question Mr Johnston’s innocence before he is tried. Mr Johnston is innocent until found guilty in court, right?!.

Remember, until you hear it from someone who may, or may not, be a policeman (who may or may not be involved in the case), you know nothing.

Are u serious ???? Innocent until proven guilty is the cornerstone of our legal system, its got nothing to do with Police telling you so or not. Pfft. Wake up mate.

Sorry, you’ve missed the point (it’s robably a bit left of field but it relates to another thread too, sorry).

Regardless of how people may or may not feel after a media article about local crime is posted (and lets face it, people draw their own conclusions after reading any media article), there are some RA posters (who may or may not be police) who get quite irate when anyone posts their own point of view after any legal matter is published here. Their response seems to be “you’re not a cop, so shut up”.

Rightly or wrongly, expressing a view on any criminal case is human nature. While I agree alleged crims and their alleged crimes before the courts probably shouldn’t be discussed in any great detail, there does seem to be a trend on RA where attempts are made to shut down discussion on criminal matters by anyone other than AFP members.

If an issue is posted on RA as a thread it should be open for comment and debate, otherwise what’s the point?

BerraBoy68 said :

Sorry, I’m just waiting for VG to chime in telling you you’re all children for daring to question Mr Johnston’s innocence before he is tried. Mr Johnston is innocent until found guilty in court, right?!.

Remember, until you hear it from someone who may, or may not, be a policeman (who may or may not be involved in the case), you know nothing.

Are u serious ???? Innocent until proven guilty is the cornerstone of our legal system, its got nothing to do with Police telling you so or not. Pfft. Wake up mate.

Sorry, I’m just waiting for VG to chime in telling you you’re all children for daring to question Mr Johnston’s innocence before he is tried. Mr Johnston is innocent until found guilty in court, right?!.

Remember, until you hear it from someone who may, or may not, be a policeman (who may or may not be involved in the case), you know nothing.

I’m very sorry to do this to you guys but I’ve worked for him as when he was a district officer for a motorsport fire/rescue group for 5 years and also did a lot on his computers(rebuilding them) I understand what you are all saying but he’s not been sentenced but I’m lead to believe a lot differently as I have some idea of what he is capable of so i’m sitting in the middle so to speak about it honestly until he’s sentenced I don’t know who or what to believe sorry but had to put it out there

I wonder if they found “ether” in the eight year old girls system? that would prove if he is guilty or innocent.

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.

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.

p1 said :

Why the hell does a 49 year old bus driver have ether?

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.

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…

It’s bad enough that this nutbag is driving buses at all but please tell me it wasn’t a school bus!

🙁

sepi said :

I can’t believe he’s still driving buses.

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.

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.

sepi said :

I can’t believe he’s still driving buses.

I somehow doubt he’ll be going back to work.

Why the hell does a 49 year old bus driver have ether?

I can’t believe he’s still driving buses.

sunshine said :

can’t believe he’s out on bail! oh wait – yes i can, it’s canberra

Murderers get out on bail. But then, they’re technically not murders if they are never convicted…

can’t believe he’s out on bail! oh wait – yes i can, it’s canberra

ABC News reports that the incident happened at his house, and involved an eight year old girl.

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.

I have a sneaking suspicion if it was my child another person would be getting knocked out as well, probably more than once