A HAVE-A-GO hero who stepped in to help a bus driver and resident during alleged assaults in Poole said he could not stand by and watch it happen.

Niall Taylor confronted youths who reportedly assaulted and threatened the operator of a Morebus service that had been travelling in Wimborne Road near the New Inn on Tuesday evening.

Shortly after this incident was defused, he said he acted again to aid a resident who he claimed was also being threatened.

Mr Taylor, 26, an industrial roofer who has lived in Poole all his life, had been in the area to watch football at the pub.

He said he heard commotion outside the New Inn and discovered “a group of youths attacking the bus driver”.

“I pushed them away and told the driver to get back on the bus,” Mr Taylor said.

“They went up to the door and continued to threaten him. I told them to get back and they went away in the end.

“Ten minutes later I heard more commotion and I went outside again.

“Youths were causing a woman some problems.

“When I saw what was happening I could not just stand and watch. It’s absolutely awful.

“I remember when I was in my teens I would be playing football at the park.

“There was a lot of bystanders stood there and watching them but doing nothing to stop it. I have lived in the area all my life and I have never seen anything quite like it.

“When I was that age there was nothing like this. It is getting ridiculously out of hand.

“I don’t think police are doing enough about this sort of crime.”

On the alleged bus incident, Oakdale ward councillor Peter Adams said: “What concerns me is buses are so important to many people, especially vulnerable and elderly people, and an incident like this would be very frightening.

“I am very concerned this will scare people from going on the bus.

"It is good to see Morebus have CCTV on their vehicles.

“Fortunately, this is a very rare incident and let’s hope this is just a one-off.

"If an example can be made of the offenders it might make others think twice.”

Fellow ward councillor Janet Walton added: “I think it is very sad to hear that something like this has happened. It is quite disgusting.

“It must have been very unnerving for the people that encountered this.

“I am pleased police and Morebus acted quickly.

“It is disappointing because we have so many young people in Oakdale and across Poole who are kind and behave well and they get tarred with the same brush with something like this.”

  • Two youths, aged 16 and 17 both from Bournemouth, and a man, aged 19 from Poole, have been charged with assault and a public order offence. They are all due to appear at Poole Magistrates’ Court on Friday, April 5.