Drunk youth who killed bus driver who was RAF veteran is jailed

A teenager who killed a bus driver after he refused to let the drunken lout on board has been locked up for four years.

The now-16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, ‘rained punches’ on Keith Rollinson at Elgin bus station in Moray on February 2.

The High Court in Inverness yesterday heard how the 58-year-old RAF veteran collapsed shortly after he was attacked and later died in hospital.

Judge Lady Hood told the killer, who was only 15 at the time of the assault, that she had no option but to lock him up. She said: ‘You completely lost control and rained blows upon the victim.

‘The physical altercation caused his death and the harm you caused is at the highest level. Detention is the only appropriate sentence in this case.’

Lady Hood cited statements from Mr Rollinson’s family which described him as ‘a true gentleman with a heart of gold and a wonderful husband and father’.

She said the family ‘have been shattered by their loss’ and added: ‘No sentence I can pass will ever be enough to help his family with their devastating loss.’

Lady Hood ordered the teenager to be detained for four years and four months, reduced from six years and six months due to his early guilty plea.

The teenager was initially charged with murder but later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of culpable homicide.

Dressed in a white shirt and black trousers, he showed no reaction as he was led away. It emerged after the trial that he was well known to the local police, having previously assaulted another bus driver in Elgin.

A supervision order for that offence finished three weeks before he killed Mr Rollinson.

Background reports said he suffered mental health issues after his parents divorced and started using alcohol and cannabis from the age of 13.

His lawyer Shelagh McCall, KC, said her client had shown ‘sincere remorse’ for his actions. She said there was no intent to kill Mr Rollinson, and his recent detention at an assessment centre had benefited him.

Ms McCall added: ‘He understands the seriousness of his situation and has written to the family of the deceased.

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Pictured: Bus driver, 58, who died after being attacked at station in northern Scotland - as 15-year-old boy is charged

‘Staff at the centre say he was kind and courteous.’

However, the claims of a letter to the family brought scoffs of disbelief from the public benches.

Advocate depute John Keenan, KC, had told how the teenager had initially been ‘refused travel due to his intoxication’. He added: ‘The accused completely lost control, raining punches on the deceased’s head and body.’

He said a post-mortem found that Mr Rollinson had a pre-existing heart condition. He continued: ‘Most likely the physical altercation led to cardiac arrest.’

Detective Inspector Andrew Wilson said: ‘I hope this guilty plea brings some measure of comfort to Keith’s family’.