Vandals trash disabled children's minibuses in Dorchester

10:00am Friday 19th March 2010

By Joanna Davis

DISABLED children were left stranded after lowlife vandals attacked a fleet of cars that are used to transport youngsters to special schools.

The vandals wreaked havoc at Bob’s Cars on Poundbury West Industrial Estate in Dorchester by ripping parts out of three wheelchair minibuses – meaning that children had to miss lessons because the cars were inoperable.

They smashed a quarterlight window from one bus, removed a battery from another and a car stereo from the third.

Business owner Bob Galloway, 51, said: “This was a shock. I’ll get over it, but what about those who have been disrupted by this?

“The people who did this may be upset because they don’t have much money but they’ve upset so many other people.

“It’s not a long-term disruption to us or about the lost revenue but it’s a big upset to the lives of people in wheelchairs.”

Mr Galloway, who has been running Bob’s Cars for 18 years, carries out contracts to transport people in wheelchairs on behalf of Dorset Social Services.

The firm also drives young adults to local day centres and operates a taxi business.

PC Garry Mason, of Dorchester police station, is appealing for witnesses to the crime. The damage was done overnight on Wednesday between 9pm and 1.30am.

He said: “The area isn’t any more vulnerable than any other industrial estate.

“The battery was removed from one of the cars and was left unattended. They may have been spooked or disturbed.”

A forensic officer was sent to the scene to examine the vehicles for fingerprints.

Mr Galloway added: “We are hoping to get the vehicles roadworthy again as soon as we can.

“I feel quite angry about the situation but sad at the same time for the people who have done the damage. They need to know what they’ve done and how much disruption they’ve caused.”

A spokeswoman from Dorset County Council said that thanks to the efforts of Bob’s Cars they were able to make arrangements for all of the children affected to get to their destination.

She said members of the council’s SEN (Special Educational Needs) team were extremely grateful to the taxi firm for helping them ensure all the children affected were able to find alternative transport to school.

“They pulled out all the stops to make sure they all got to school and everyone who was due to have a ride got one.”