‘Disturbing’ fight scenes

‘Disturbing’ fight scenes

1 June 2022

TRANSLINK officials have this week been urged to stop students fighting at Downpatrick bus station.

The appeal has been made by the concerned parent of two teenage children who have been left traumatised by the disturbing and upsetting scenes they have witnessed at the Market Street depot.

Fights between students from the same school and with pupils from other schools are being filmed and uploaded to social media.

The concerned mother revealed that in one recent traumatic incident, a young girl was attacked by three other females and had her head crashed against a metal railing. 

As part of the same incident — which was uploaded to social media — the woman claimed that a member of the public then kicked the young girl in the head before she was able to flee to safety.

“My children are 14 and 16 and the violence they have witnessed has been deeply distressing for them,” she said.

“They have come home from school traumatised after what they had the misfortune to see at the bus station and keep asking why this intolerable behaviour is allowed to continue. Teenage children should not have to witness such levels of violence, especially in a public place like a bus station which is packed with students in the afternoon.”

The local mum says her concern is shared by other parents who have witnessed disturbing scenes at the Translink depot.

“It is my understanding that fights between students have become something of a regular occurrence, particularly between 3.30pm and 4.30pm. The question that I and others are asking is why this situation allowed to continue?

“It would appear that nothing is being done about it. Can Translink not have a staff member on the concourse to act as a steward to prevent fights from breaking out? Surely the presence of an official from the company would act as a deterrent.”

The concerned mother also asked why young students were resorting to violence against others from the same school and those from other schools who gather at the Downpatrick depot.

“From what I have been told, there is no sectarian element to this fighting. The bottom line is that it must stop and people like myself and others are looking to Translink to do something about it before someone is seriously injured,” she said.

“This is a very serious and depressing problem which is impacting on those who witness the violence erupting in front of them. It is also perplexing that fights are being uploaded on social media.”

The mother has urged Translink to come up with a solution that will end fighting and “mindless bullying” in a public place and appealed to other parents to warn their children about the dangers of getting caught up in such a cycle of violence.

A Translink spokeswoman said safety was the company’s top priority and it condemned anti-social behaviour.

She added: “As part of our safety measures, we work alongside the PSNI, the local community, local representatives and stakeholders, as well as with local schools and youth organisations to engage with young people.

“We have not received any reports around these alleged incidents and we would ask the parent to get in touch with us directly so we can investigate.”