Bus driver charged with neglect after leaving pensioner in bus overnight

Friday, 20 July 2012

Police have charged a woman bus driver with neglect after she left an elderly passenger locked in her bus overnight.

The victim, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease and is in her 80s, was discovered alone and confused at the bus depot in Luton, Bedfordshire.

She had spent a staggering 14 hours trapped on the bus.

Police have charged bus driver Susan McLaughlin, 43, with neglect. She had been suspended from her job at Luton Borough Council.

The pensioner, who has not been named, is believed to have been picked up from her sheltered accommodation by a council-run bus service in Luton on May 2.

Alarm was raised when she was not dropped home at 5.30pm the same evening as expected and she was reported missing by Westminster Housing Association.

A police spokesman said: "We, on behalf of Thames and Chiltern Crown Prosecution Service have charged a woman with neglect contrary to Section 44 of the Mental Capacity Act.

"Susan McLaughlin, aged 43 years, of Brunel Road, Luton, was arrested after an incident involving an elderly lady being left on a bus in Luton was reported to Bedfordshire Police on May 2.'

McLaughlin is due to appear before magistrates in Luton on August 8.