Tree Surgeon, 23, who took a ‘safe bus’ with 15 passengers on board for a drunken ride after a night out is banned from driving for 16 months and told to grow up by a judge
- Alexander Farrell drove the bus to safety after a night out in Bournemouth, Dorset
- The bus was meant to provide safe haven for those injured or in distress
- He pleaded guilty to drunk driving and driving without a license or insurance
A reveler who took a ‘safe bus’ with 15 passengers on board for a drunken ride after a night out has been banned from driving for 16 months and told to ‘grow up’ by the judge.
Arborist Alexander Farrell, 23, jumped into the cabin of the double-decker ‘safe bus’ at the end of a night out in Bournemouth, Dorset.
The red bus was parked in the middle of downtown to provide safe haven for those injured or in distress on a night out.
He managed to get the ignition on and pulled the bus away from the shocked police and council guards at 4am on July 3 this year.
Farrell, of Crookham Village, near Fleet in Hampshire, pleaded guilty to drink-driving when he appeared at Poole Magistrates’ Court.
Tree surgeon Alexander Farrell, 23, jumped into the cabin of the double-decker ‘safe bus’ at the end of a night out in Bournemouth, Dorset (pictured leaving Poole Magistrates’ Court)
He also admitted driving a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent and driving a vehicle without proper license and insurance.
He drove it for 0.2 miles until he reached a roundabout where he stopped and fled the scene with the group of passengers.
Farrell, an arborist and “urban explorer” who appeared on YouTube performing stunts like climbing public buildings, was arrested nearby.
A breath test showed he had 59 micrograms of alcohol in 100 milliliters of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms.
Judge Michael Snow told Farrell to grow up during sentencing.
He said: ‘I imagine to you it’s all just a laugh. You are not a child. You are 23 years old. You are old enough to know much more.
He added: “You think you are going to wreak havoc in the early hours of the morning.
“You have taken the safety bus which helps to reduce the pressure on emergency services by providing care and a safe environment for those at risk.
“You took this vehicle and risked decommissioning it so it couldn’t provide that protective environment for others.
“There were also 15 passengers that you put in danger. These are serious offences.
The red bus was parked in the middle of the city center to provide safe haven for those injured or in distress on a night out
Nicholas White, mitigating, said that Farrell had previously been of good character and if he hadn’t been drunk he wouldn’t have been driving the bus.
He said his client was “pushed by his peers” to drive at 4 a.m. on July 3, 2022.
He said: “The band had been out in the evening and he accepts he had drunk too much.
“There was an element of peer pressure involved and there was no pre-planning to do this. There’s evidence that he drove it, but he wasn’t really thinking clearly.
“If he had thought he wouldn’t have driven that vehicle. He regrets the fact that he did.
He added that Farrell drives a lot for his job as an arborist and also needed a car to help his father.
Farrell avoided jail but was banned from driving for 16 months.
He was also given a community order with a curfew between 7pm and 6am and ordered to pay £1,393 in fines and costs.
