Children travelling home from school in southern New South Wales have been left shaken after witnessing a fight on a school bus between two adults.
NSW Police said officers responded to the incident on Byrnes Road, Junee, about 4:30pm on Friday.
Twelve-year-old primary school student Lilith McKay, who lives in Junee but travels to Wagga Wagga each day by bus, said from the moment she boarded, the passengers were disruptive.
Lilith says a year 11 student moved younger students away from the fight on the bus. (ABC Riverina: Jess Scully)
“They were yelling at the bus driver and calling her evil,” she said.
“Then they settled down a bit and … maybe that’s when one of the guys choked the other one with a cord.“
The bus driver then reportedly pulled the bus over on Byrnes Road, about 3 kilometres south of the township of Junee, near an abattoir.
“[The bus driver] asked them to stop … and then one of the guys started headbutting the other one,” Lilith said.
“There was heaps of blood everywhere.”
The bus waited near the Junee abattoir until police arrived. (ABC Riverina: Jess Scully)
Limited transport options
There is one public bus that travels between Wagga Wagga and Junee, and one train a day.
“There’s three Junee buses that all school students catch,” Lilith said.
“If you work in Wagga and you don’t have a car, and the petrol prices are pretty high at the moment as well … you catch the bus.”
During the incident, Lilith texted her mum, Nicolette James, alerting her to the behaviour on the bus.
“Because I work in Wagga, which is so far away, I posted online to see if someone could pick her up for me,” Ms James said.
Nicolette James was able to see where the bus had pulled over to wait for police. (Supplied: Nicolette James)
On the social media post, many residents, parents and community members expressed concerns about adults catching the bus alongside students, Ms James said.
She said she did not agree, but the circumstance could have been avoided.
“I don’t have an issue with adults catching the bus, but my understanding is they were [behaving antisocially],” she said.
“They shouldn’t have been allowed on the bus, especially it being a school bus full of kids.”
A year 11 student called the police and pulled some of the younger students together away from the danger.
“[The student] was asking everyone if they were alright,” Lilith said.
Lilith messaged her mum through a social media service during the incident. (Supplied: Nicolette James)
At the scene on Byrnes Road, paramedics treated a 61-year-old man before he was taken to Junee Hospital.
Later that evening, the second man, a 52-year-old was arrested and charged with two counts of affray and two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
He was refused bail and appeared in bail court yesterday where his bail was again refused.
He will appear in Wagga Wagga Local Court on June 29.
