FOUR boys from the Calabar High School in St Andrew have been charged in relation to the stabbing of a Jamaica Urban Transit Bus Company (JUTC) driver on Monday.

One of the boys was charged with carrying an offensive weapon, late Monday, while the remaining three were each slapped with charges of malicious wounding, robbery with aggravation, and wounding with intent by investigators from the St Andrew Central police yesterday.

Forty-six-year-old Errol Lemard was stabbed, robbed and beaten allegedly by a group of boys dressed in Calabar uniforms, early Monday morning.

The attack happened while the bus was travelling along Constant Spring Road towards Dunrobin Avenue. It is alleged that the boys opened an emergency vent towards the back of the bus, which forced the driver to stop the vehicle out of caution. He walked out and the boys used the opportunity to steal money from where it was stored near the driver’s seat.

The bus driver allegedly tried to intervene and was beaten and stabbed. He was later hospitalised.

The JUTC has since announced that it will be reviewing its safety mechanisms to improve the security of its staff.

Chairman of the company Garnet Roper told the Jamaica Observer that among the measures being considered is the introduction of an Automatic Vehicle Locator (AVL) system.

“We are getting to the point where we will have a working AVL system which will give the control centre greater awareness as to where the buses [are] and what is happening at any given point of the journey, said Roper.

He, however, made it clear that despite the horrific incident, he did not see the need for any extreme security measure.

Meanwhile, he said he would back an educational campaign tto guide students on how they should conduct themselves on the buses.