Bus driver suspended after man was ‘racially abused and locked on a bus for an hour’

A driver is being investigated after allegedly antisemitically abusing a man and locking him in a bus ‘for hours’ after withholding his bank card.

David Abraham boarded a bus in Stamford Hill, north London, on Monday when he dropped his card in the driver’s cab, only for the driver to apparently refuse to hand it back.

The driver allegedly told Mr Abraham he resembled a ‘Mossad agent’ and ‘did not like Jewish people’.

Passengers on board the bus for Dalston Junction left the bus while the argument ensued, but Mr Abraham says he was kept on board for nearly an hour by the driver.

Mr Abraham is recorded in a clip on the bus saying that he had been trapped after refusing to leave without his card.

‘I’m begging the driver to give me my bank card – he don’t want to give it to me. I don’t know what is going on’, he said.

He continued sobbing: ‘The guy says he hates Jewish people – I didn’t do anything to him. I just touched my bank card, my bank card dropped there, he says he doesn’t want to give me my card, he doesn’t like Jewish people. What kind of driver is this?’

The clip shows the bus driver appearing to ignore Mr Abraham as he paces up and down the vehicle.

Mr Abraham, who is originally from Africa, said he was surprised to be turned on by a fellow black man.

Police eventually arrived on the scene and returned Mr Abraham his bank card.

The bus route on which Mr Abraham was travelling services one of London’s largest Haredi, or strictly orthodox communities.

Mr Abraham added that he had been ‘traumatised’ by his ordeal.

He told the Jewish Chronicle: ‘I did nothing to him. I was very shocked. I panicked, and I was scared. I’m not safe.’

TfL said in a statement that the driver in question had been suspended pending an investigation.

A spokesperson said: ‘This is unacceptable behavior. We are supporting the police and the bus operator, Arriva, while they investigate and take appropriate formal action.

‘We take a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of abuse and work closely with the police to pursue anyone who is abusive to our customers or staff.’

A spokesperson for Met Police said: ‘Police were called to reports of a verbal dispute between two men on a bus travelling in Stamford Hill, Hackney.

‘Officers attended and made enquiries. No crime was reported at the scene, but the following day a 52-year-old man reported the incident to police as a hate crime.’

The Campaign Against Antisemitism said in a statement to Metro: ‘This incident will horrify decent people right across the country, who increasingly wonder what has happened to the UK we love.

‘It is outrageous that anyone should be subjected to this kind of degrading treatment, let alone for being or simply just appearing to be Jewish.

‘Allegedly trapping a passenger on a bus and subjecting him to antisemitic abuse is not merely disgraceful conduct; it is potentially criminal. We welcome urgent investigations by both TfL and the police.

‘If the allegations are borne out, the driver would clearly need to be fired and TfL would need to issue an apology and offer compensation to the passenger.’

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