Manukau bus driver attacked and left unconscious in assault

Sree Swami, a 55-year-old Ritchies employee, was left traumatised and covered in blood. Photo / Supplied

A bus driver in the first few months of his job was brutally attacked and knocked out cold by a stranger at a South Auckland bus station.

The 55-year-old Ritchies employee, Sree Swami, was left traumatised and covered in blood.

He now faces a long recovery, with fractures to his nose and significant bruising on his face.

At about 4.30pm on Monday, Swami was at the Manukau Bus Station when he was attacked out of the blue.

He told the Herald he was waiting on the footpath for a colleague to arrive to hand over buses, when all of a sudden he was hit to the ground.

“Suddenly, I had a blow in my face ... I couldn’t even see. I just had a blow, punch, a strong punch, and that’s all,” Swami said.

“I was blank.”

Inspector Warrick Adkin said police have charged a teenager over an assault at the station.

“Some of our Community Engagement Team were carrying out a patrol of the bus station when they came across two young people fighting,” Adkin said.

Police separated the pair and detained one of them.

He said the second person moved away inside the bus station and continued to act aggressively.

“He has repeatedly ignored police instructions, and while inside the bus station, he has allegedly assaulted a member of the public,” Adkin said.

Swami compared the situation to the way movies depict what people see when they are hit.

“They see some kind of stars. I saw that,” he said.

“I was blank and went unconscious a few minutes. All that I saw was blood oozing from my nose and mouth,” he said.

The man’s wife, Sneha, told the Herald her husband had just started a new job with the bus company after beginning his training in August.

She said that when she received the phone call from her husband, she and her children were in complete shock.

After being rushed to hospital, Swami spent hours in Middlemore Hospital and wasn’t able to go home till 4am the next day.

A bus driver, in just the first few months of his job, was brutally attacked and knocked out cold. Photo / Hayden Woodward

Swami said he suffered a broken nose and damage to his cheekbone and eyes.

He currently can’t open his left eye due to significant swelling.

“We stand thinking nobody is there. Suddenly, someone is coming and punching you. It can happen to anyone,” he said.

“A lot of the public don’t want to take public transport because of these issues.

“People should be allowed to walk freely,” he said.

Since his hospital care, his wife said he hasn’t been able to speak openly about the incident.

“He’s in shock, he’s traumatised. I mean, it really affects the family, environment, as well as financial wise, everything,” she said.

An Auckland Transport spokesperson said they were aware of the incident, and the bus company is supporting the driver who was injured.

“No one should be subjected to this kind of violence during their workday.

“We are assisting police with their enquiries and note that the matter is now before the court,” the spokesperson said.

Ritches has been approached for comment.

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