One can only wonder at the mentality of the gang of idiots who terrorised elderly passengers on a bus by hurling stones at the vehicle, shattering the windows.

It takes a specific kind of cowardly thuggishness to even conceive of the idea of pelting a bus with rocks as it passes by.

It would be a disservice to the natural world to say these yobs behaved like animals, because animals just would not behave like that.

Even leaving aside the fact that the windows were shattered and the passengers terrified, such a foolish action could have had devastating consequences if they had aimed their missiles at the driver’s cab and caused the bus to crash into another vehicle or hit a pedestrian.

This is not something that can be merely dismissed as “anti social behaviour” – it is downright criminality and those who are responsible should not bleat or whine when the full weight of the law descends upon them and they find themselves facing serious criminal charges.

Buses are a lifeline to many people and the last thing anyone wants is transport companies pulling services from certain areas or drivers refusing to go on certain routes for fear of attacks like this.

We should all feel safe and secure on public transport and should not have to deal with threatening behaviour from either within the bus or outside it.

The police in the past have put officers on certain routes plagued by bad behaviour, and it is to be hoped that every effort is made to track down these culprits before they strike again and perhaps cause a much more serious incident.