Bus driver questioned by police over alleged beating of passenger

A bus driver who allegedly beat up a tourist last Wednesday in Sliema was yesterday evening called in for questioning after the police acted on a report of the incident published in The Times.

Police sources confirmed that the bus driver had been called to the police headquarters in Floriana after they spoke to a number of people who saw the beating.

The Malta Transport Authority is conducting its own investigation into the matter.

In a letter to this newspaper published yesterday, Alfred Zahra de Domenico recounted how the incident occurred just after 11 p.m. when a bus stopped suddenly at Balluta, St Julians. The driver got out of his seat and "repeatedly savagely assaulted one of the passengers", who was seated on the driver's left hand side.

The young man was "subjected to a prolonged shower of heavy blows" from the driver. Eventually he was thrown off the bus with his shirt torn. But the story did not end there. When the foreigner shouted insults at his aggressor, the driver assaulted him on the pavement, according to the eyewitness.

Mr Zahra de Domenico called the police on 119. But rather than alerting the mobile squad so the police could act immediately, the officer on duty asked the caller whether he had filed a police report at a nearby police station, the witness claimed.

Contacted by The Times yesterday, police sources confirmed that the bus driver had been tracked down and that he had been taken in for questioning.

The sources, however, could not confirm whether the police were investigating just the aggression against the passenger and also the reaction of the police officer when the eyewitness reported the incident.

The young man had not filed a police report and neither did he report the incident to the Malta Transport Authority which is, however, conducting its own investigations, sources added.

mxuereb@timesofmalta.com