Apr 19 2008
Rob Marris and the bus stop
Last night, on the Wolverhampton Politics Show, I led with the story that Wolverhampton South West’s Labour MP, Rob Marris, had been arrested and charged for criminal damage.
The story is now national news but it all seems a little odd to me.
Reports so far suggest that a van was blocking the bus stop at which Rob, and a queue of others, were waiting. When the bus arrived, the van driver refused to move his vehicle so Rob clambered over it. The Daily Mail continues, “the bemused van driver asked onlookers who the man was and it was then he was told he was the local MP.”
Since the incident, Rob has been arrested and charged for criminal damage.
Three things strike me as odd:
- Was there no way around the van?
- Would the van driver have bothered to report this incident if the person clambering over his van was anyone other than the local MP?
- Why have the police charged him over, what appears to be, an entirely trivial matter?
I do wonder what damage the van suffered to upset the driver so much. I’m sure more will come out when the case goes to court.