Man arrested after bus driver spat at in Bexleyheath

A man identified by forensics has been arrested for allegedly spitting at a bus driver.

At shortly after 1am on March 25 a man boarded a bus on Broadway in Bexleyheath.

The 18-year-old man attempted to pay his fare with an unusable bank card.

When the driver explained that he could not travel on the bus without paying a fare, the suspect spat at him.

The victim collected evidence in a testing kit that TfL staff are provided with for incidents such as this, and an investigation was launched by officers from the Met’s Roads and Transport Policing Command.

CCTV evidence from the bus provided an image of the man. He was identified by local officers. The identification was corroborated by the DNA result from the testing kit used by the victim.

An 18-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday, April 29, on suspicion of common assault. He was taken to a South London police station where he remains at this time.

Chief Inspector Dave Monk, of the Met’s Roads and Transport Policing Command, said: “This is a vile crime at any time, but is even more abhorrent given the concerns around the risk of contracting coronavirus.”

Enquiries continue.