Mother ‘killed’ by violent man in bus attack while protecting elderly passengers

A woman has claimed she was assaulted while ‘protecting’ elderly passengers on a bus from a man allegedly on a rampage in Birmingham.

Marie Lawrence said she was at the service at 24 Highfield Lane, Quinton, when she claims a shoeless man trespassed and failed to pay before hearing someone say he had taken their phone.

The 46-year-old said the man then got off the bus and “attempted to take a shopping trolley from an OAP couple before hitting the door of another property”. She claims the man jumped back on the bus and she was “pushed and punched” as she tried to protect the elderly passengers.

The police were called to the scene and arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of assault. The mum-of-five said: “I was coming back from Harborne and I was on Highfield Lane when suddenly a man came on the bus. He didn’t pay, he just said “beep” loudly, he had no shoes, but he had socks and ran upstairs.

“I heard ‘he took my phone, stop the bus.’ Then the bus stopped. When he got off the bus, there were elderly people coming out of the house and he tried to take their shopping trolley from them. When that failed, he went to a second house and knocked on the door.

“He threw the bin into the car which broke the window. The bus driver was calling the police and I told him to lock the doors so he couldn’t get back on but he came through the emergency exit. He confronted me and said “get the hell down, we’re protecting elderly passengers and I got hit.

The man left before causing further mayhem on Highfield Lane. Mrs. Lawrence got off the bus when she heard sirens. She told BirminghamLive: “He needed help. I’m fine, just a little sore.”

A West Midlands Police spokesman said: “We were called to reports of a man causing a disturbance on Highfield Lane, Quinton, just after 12.30pm today. Officers attended and arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of assault. taken to the hospital for a health check before being arrested.”