Silent crime: 'I was terrorised by man on bus into Sheffield, but police just dropped the case'

"I had plans in place for my day, when I got onto the Stagecoach number one service into Sheffield city centre.

“I remember it was travelling through Arbourthorne, around East Bank Road. It was about 10.30am, on January 25, 2023, when a man moved from his seat at the back and sat next to me and hissed in his native language, which I understood, ‘Stay where you are. You're going nowhere, Not letting you go away’.

“I panicked, so I started pressing the bell constantly to spook him into moving. He didn't.

“That's when he raised his voice and shouted in my ear ‘sit down, sit down". I then called the bus driver for help shouting, ‘driver, this man is harassing me, this man is bothering me’.

“A brave lady opposite to me pointed at the attacker and said ‘I saw ya, I saw ya move from your seat and sit next to her. Why? Why?’ and a gentleman further at the front turned around and asked me ‘You alright luv? Do you know him, luv?' I said. ‘No, don't know him’.

“His shouting continued and he started pushing me towards the window with his elbow, then the man stomped on my left foot to keep me restrained in my seat.

“Eventually, the bus driver stopped the bus and asked the violent man to leave, otherwise he'd call the police.

“He replied ‘go, call the police, call them, not scared’, and was motioning a fist towards my face. He demanded that I leave instead because I pressed the bell instead of him, shouting ‘I will not get off. She pressed the bell, you. You get off’.

“Eventually he left, and was motioning behind the glass ‘I'm watching you’ as the bus drove off. I was left numb, hurt, confused and scared. It was a traumatizing experience that I wouldn't wish on anybody, and shockingly, one of the witnesses on the bus said the suspect ‘does this all the time’.

“The bus driver, understandably, said they can't do much about it, because it's a matter for the police. After that I went to our local GP to hand in documents, thinking that I would be able to overcome that incident and continue the rest of my work from home remotely. But I broke down at the reception. I collapsed - I was an absolute mess.

“The staff at my local GP were so attentive and kind and examined my swollen foot. They advised me to go to A&E and make sure that I report the assault to the police, so I did.

“But, because of the trauma affecting my memory at that time, and because the CCTV from that bus was faulty, no further actions were taken. Even a written statement, my right under the Victim Code, which I was told two days prior to closing the case that I'd be given, didn't go ahead because ‘I could not recall what the suspect looked like, therefore they said ‘nothing evidential would have come from getting the statement’.

“Having been threatened, assaulted, intimated and humiliated, I went to the police, thinking the they would put things right and take the matter as seriously as they claim to when it comes to tackling VAWG (Violence Against Women and Girls) and crimes in general, only to be shut down and given the suggestion that I contact Victim Support, for them to pick up the pieces.

“‘Give Her Space’ - that's the campaign I recently saw on SYP's social media feeds, and last year, on that bus I was on, people did step in. They did demand that man to give me space, they did stand up to him. But, ironically, SYP didn't think the same people who witnessed and stepped in would help them locate the suspect, and didn't think an appeal to them, the witnesses who stepped in, was a good idea because they ‘can't force people to come forward and give evidence, people might not want to’.

“Why have no faith in passengers of the number one bus, Arbourthorne, East Bank Road, 10.30am, January 25, 2023? Specifically in this incident, did they believe the public wasn't going to assist them?

“For me it's a sad reality really, to not leave the house without an alarm in my hand, to be vigilant and on standby when out and about, to use public transport and wondering what if it happens again to someone else?

“The trust I had in the police to keep us safe has been shattered based on my own experience. Let's hope things do improve and victims aren't left with just a crime number and a pit in their stomach."

South Yorkshire Police response:

South Yorkshire Police said that on January 25 2023, they responded to reports of an assault on City Road, Sheffield. It was reported that a woman was assaulted by a man on a bus, causing an injury to her foot.

Officers launched an investigation, but unfortunately CCTV footage of the incident was unavailable, and an accurate description of the suspect could not be gained.

Due to these evidential difficulties, the incident was filed in February 2023 pending further information coming to light.

Detective Superintendent Nikki Shimwell, Sheffield District Command Team said: “We take all reports of violence and harassment seriously and our officers explore every investigative opportunity to ensure we are pursuing perpetrators and protecting victims.

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“Unfortunately, on this occasion, the investigation was not able to progress further due to evidential difficulties.

“I must commend the victim for her bravery during what must have been a frightening situation. No one should have to fear violence and abuse.

“There is absolutely no place for these appalling behaviours and violence against women and girls in our society. We are committed to ensuring we root out these crimes to create safer spaces for everyone.

“I would encourage anyone who witnesses violence, harassment, intimidation, humiliation and misogyny happening in South Yorkshire, to call it out and report it to police.”

Last month The Star and sister titles across the country launched our ‘Silent Crime’ awareness raising campaign to shine a light in crimes and incidents which people choose not to report and those which do get reported but no action is taken.

The aim is to present our findings to the Prime Minister.

There are a number of reasons why people choose not to call the police, such as not thinking an issue is important enough and worrying that the police force will be too buisy to respond.

South Yorkshire Police Federation chairman Steve Kent told The Star: “We’ve only got a finite number of resources in South Yorkshire.

“We are, sadly, one of the poorer funded forces in the country. We‘re still 400 officers down on where we were prior to 2010, so we have to prioritise incidents that we attend. We have to priorities threats to life incidents, or incidents involving vulnerability, or serious crime. So it’s not to say that we don’t value, or our officers are not concerned about, low level crime.”