John Telford Picture Ref: 76483-05A BUS driver has been ordered to do community service for throwing an abusive teenager off his school bus.

John Telford, 54, from Highworth, kicked the 13-year-old youth off his bus after he swore at him.

The youngster had already been banned from riding on the bus by the coach company and the council for his unruly behaviour, Swindon Magistrates Court heard yesterday.

On May 3 last year the boy abused Telford and swore at him before being pushed off the bus, the court was told.

At his trial in March, magistrates found Telford guilty of assault after hearing the boy landed on his back as a result of being shoved.

Telford was yesterday told to do 60 hours of community service, pay £350 court costs and £25 compensation to the youth.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, claimed that Telford, of Cross Country Coaches, punched him, grabbed him round the neck and shoved him off the bus so he landed on his back on the pavement.

Magistrates decided it was unclear whether Telford had thrown a punch, but agreed he had used excessive force to remove the boy from the bus.

Prosecutor Frank Murphy said Telford grabbed his victim by the throat before throwing him off the bus following the altercation at the bus stop in Middleleaze Drive, West Swindon.

Mr Murphy said: "The injured party felt that he had been unreasonably victimised by the defendant." But Anthony Bignall, defending, said Telford faced an almost impossible situation when the boy refused to get off the bus.

"Mr Telford was in an extremely difficult position," he said.

"The boy had been given notice by the bus company and the local authority not to get on that bus again.

"He then got on that bus the following day."

The court heard the youth's mother had apparently ripped up a letter banning him from the bus.

In court Telford said the boy had caused problems on the buses before, arguing that he jumped over seats, harassed and swore at the drivers and refused to sit in the seat allocated to him so an eye could be kept on him.

Telford's wife Barbara, who is the director of the company, had told him not to let the boy on after an incident when she was driving the bus the day before.

"Mr Telford was put in a position where he had to respond very quickly," Mr Bignall said.

"He tried to use words first, increasing in their volume, but there came a time when he had to remove him physically."

The defence read out a letter published in the Advertiser which had supported the actions of Telford following the trial.

It read: "Why are the parents not being taken to court?

"They brought this child up to be disruptive."

Telford declined to comment after the hearing.

Swindon Council said its contract with the bus company would continue.

Gareth Bethell