Police ScotlandA teenage boy who admitted killing a bus driver by headbutting and “raining punches” on him has been sentenced to four years and four months in custody.
Keith Rollinson, 58, died of a cardiac arrest in hospital following the incident at the bus station in Elgin’s St Giles Road area in February.
The 16-year-old boy – who was 15 at the time – was originally charged with murder but admitted the lesser charge of culpable homicide. The teenager – who cannot be named due to his age – had been told he was too intoxicated to board the bus, leading to the struggle with the driver.
At the High Court in Inverness, Lady Hood told the teenager there was no alternative to detention.
The judge added that she would have imposed a longer sentence had he not pled guilty at the earliest opportunity, and that no sentence would make up for the loss suffered by Mr Rollinson’s family.
Previously, the High Court in Edinburgh was told Mr Rollinson had collapsed following the assault and never regained consciousness.
The boy had previously been reported to the police for assaulting another bus driver. A supervision order for that offence had ended three weeks before the fatal attack on Mr Rollinson.
The teenager was part of a group of youths who had been drinking heavily on the evening of the attack.
The boy and another youth had gone to the bus station to get the last bus home.
Mr Rollinson had told him he was too intoxicated to board the bus, which had upset him. He switched off the bus engine and told the other passengers he would not be leaving until the boy got off the bus.
Mr Rollinson asked a colleague for help with the situation.
When they got back to the concourse, the boy pointed his phone in Mr Rollinson’s face, leading to the driver grabbing the phone.
This led to a struggle between the pair, during which the boy headbutted the driver.
The court heard that the boy had then “completely lost control”, raining punches on Mr Rollinson’s head and body, before being pulled away by another youth.
Mr Rollinson tried to get away from the boy, and the court heard he appeared to be fine.
However, after bending over to pick up his cap, he collapsed and never regained consciousness.
The court heard a taxi driver overheard the boy discussing the attack as he was driving him home. The boy later called one of his friends, crying and upset, saying he had hit the driver and he “wasn’t waking up”.
After his arrest, police said the boy had “displayed an air of arrogance” and “did not appear to appreciate the severity of the situation”.
He had made unsolicited comments that he had acted in self-defence and had “prayed to God the deceased would be all right”.
A subsequent post-mortem examination on Mr Rollinson revealed he had significant heart disease and would have most likely been “at risk of a sudden cardiac arrest at any time”.
‘Loving husband and father’
Mr Rollinson’s family said in a statement at the time: “The kindest, dedicated and loving husband and father was taken from us.
“Our world has been shattered – I cannot see us ever getting over our loss of our rock.”
Stagecoach North Scotland expressed shock and sadness at the death of one of its drivers.
The Unite union has called for better protection of bus drivers.
It released the findings of a survey of more than 1,000 bus drivers across Scotland last week.
Unite said 99% supported stronger legislative measures to protect bus drivers, and 84% said the number of instances of abuse at work had increased in the last 12 months.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Urgent measures must be taken to address the staggering level of abuse being suffered by bus drivers.”
Chf Insp Mike McKenzie, the Police Scotland area commander for Moray, said: “Since Keith Rollinson’s death, we have been working closely with a range of partners to tackle youth disorder in Elgin, particularly around the bus station.
“This work will continue and we are committed to working with partners to prevent and deter anti-social behaviour.”
