Two Chessington teens who caused a bus to crash by trying to force a driver to pull over after they had missed their stop have been given a curfew.
The youths, aged 14 and 15, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were on the number 71 bus at 10.15pm on November 11 last year when it crashed in Bridge Street, Chessington.
John Shepherd, prosecuting at Kingston Youth Court on February 13, said a group of five youths tried to get the bus to stop.
When the driver refused, they tried to drag him out of his cab, causing the bus to crash into a parked car, Mr Shepherd said.
The defence solicitor for the 14-year-old said he had bowed to peer pressure and took a "spontaneous decision", and had not got on the bus "to start problems".
The court heard how the 15-year-old, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), had trouble recognising inappropriate behaviour.
"He didn't intend to start trouble. He just wanted to get off the bus," he said.
"We have all been in that situation but he knows he has to learn to restrain himself. He is absolutely mortified he got involved in this matter."
The 15-year-old told the court: "It was silly. I am sorry but the driver looked like he was enjoying it to be honest."
Lead magistrate Reardon said: "This was an extremely unpleasant offence on a public bus late at night that caused a lot of people to be frightened.
"Members of the public travelling on a bus have a right to travel safely without the fear of criminal activity."
Both youths were sentenced to an 18-month supervision order and a six-week curfew order to run between 8pm and 6am daily.
Sergeant Steven Sharrock, of Kingston police safer transport team, said: "These two youths potentially endangered the lives of the driver, passengers and other road users, and the court has rightly taken this into account in passing such a severe sentence."
The 15-year-old pleaded with magistrates to change his original curfew to allow him to play football, which the magistrate agreed to, saying sport was "the one aspirational part of your life".
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