Boisterous football fans spread alarm

May 8 2009 by Johnathon Menzies, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

AN outraged mother is demanding an apology, claiming rowdy Morton fans travelling to St Johnstone’s title-clinching clash at McDiarmid Park verbally abused her seven-year-old daughter on a Perth bus last Saturday.

Little Megan Fisken, from Letham’s Cluny Terrace, boarded the Number 2 Stagecoach service with her mother Dawn in the centre of the Fair City.

Also on the bus were a group of boisterous supporters en route to the Crieff Road stadium.

Dawn told the PA that the fans’ alcohol-fuelled antics have left her daughter, who has a hearing difficulty, “terrified”.

The mother-of-two said: “When we got on the bus I said to the driver that the Morton fans behind us were drunk and she just looked at me.

“They got on the bus and were singing really loudly, swearing, and banging on the ledge at the back of the bus.

“My daughter’s hearing problem means she gets a high-pitched piercing noise in her ears when she near a loud noise – she’s had a hearing aid in each ear for the last two years – and gets very upset.

“There were other kids on the bus so I asked the lads to keep it down. They said sorry but just got even louder.

“Then one of them turned to my daughter and swore at her because she was wearing a Glasgow Rangers shirt,” she said.

Dawn continued: “I use the bus every day but Megan won’t go anywhere now because she thinks those boys are going to be on every bus,” she said.

Dawn added that one of the fans diced with danger on the Crieff Road by inadvertently opening the vehicle’s emergency exit.

Charlie Mullen, Stagecoach’s managing director for the East of Scotland, told the PA that such incidences of anti-social behaviour are rare in the Perth area. He added the incident will be “fully investigated”.

He said: “In circumstances such as this drivers may refuse to let some people on the buses, this is down to the discretion of the individual.

“Factors such as the length of the journey, the number of passengers on the bus – or intending to board – and the nature of the behaviour may affect judgement of the situation.

“Drivers are also instructed to stop the vehicle and call the police if anyone is causing a particular threat.

“On this rare and exceptional occasion within the Perth area, the driver decided not stop the vehicle due to the short distance involved.

“However, this incident will be fully investigated and the correct procedure will be reiterated to all drivers.

“This complaint has been noted and the passenger will receive a direct response from our operations manager,” he said.