Birmingham Bus Smokers Prosecuted

Travel West Midlands (TWM) is pleased to announce that it has successfully prosecuted 18 bus passengers who have been identified smoking on TWM bus services in Birmingham.The cases, which included 12 adults and 6 youths, were heard at Birmingham Magistrates Court and Birmingham Youth Court respectively. All passengers were fined substantial amounts and were ordered to pay a proportion of the court costs.Phil Bateman, Divisional Corporate Affairs Director said: "We are pleased that all 18 people prosecuted pleaded guilty to this offence. People who smoke on our bus network anywhere in the West Midlands should be aware that we are working through Operation Safer Travel to deter and detect this behaviour and we are looking to carry out more private prosecutions. These latest cases further underline our commitment to deterring smoking and I would warn people not ignore the warnings or believe the myth that we do not prosecute. We do, and we will."The 18 passengers were identified during covert operations through major bus corridors in Birmingham. The Travel West Midlands bus fleet carries over 3,000 CCTV cameras. This includes the newly introduced ’CrystalEyes’ Multi-media system.

Published 1st December 2004