The Littlejohn retraction in the previous article ties in nicely with that other story I covered in a previous post about a women and her kid who were apparently kicked off a bus by one of those horrid forriners, who couldn't stand the sight of the little mites England T shirt, because they hate this country (or something.). Well in true Adam and Jamie style on "Mythbusters" the bus company in question looked thoroughly into the complaint (who can blame them. This had the potential to be a PR disaster) and thoroughly discredited it. The sweaty waft of bullshit that accompanied the surfacing of this tale turned out -surprise surprise to be genuine after all. This is a classic case of a totally made up racial urban myth, as seen from it's false origins, to it's conclusion As we see:
A MOTHER who claimed her two-year-old was ordered off a bus for wearing an England shirt has been branded a liar.
Sam Fardon, of Trent Vale, had claimed an Eastern European driver for First Bus had described her son Dylan Hall's shirt as "offensive" when they tried to board the 34A service from Newcastle Bus Station to Chesterton.
The 27-year-old said it was only when other passengers intervened that she was allowed on the vehicle.
But a First investigation has found nothing to back up her claims.
First Bus commercial director Paul De Santis said: "We have interviewed every single driver in the vicinity at the time and have not been able to find anyone who knows anything about the incident or who matches the description given to us.
"The complainant also stated she went to the office in Newcastle later that day and reported the incident.
"We can't find anyone who knows of any report and we did not have a lady on duty that day like the complainant said."
Miss Fardon was also asked by the bus company to provide details of witnesses.
But the firm says it has been unable to contact two of them, while the third gave information which conflicted with what Miss Fardon said.
Mr De Santis added: "I have come to the conclusion that, particularly from the point there was no Eastern European driving the services on the day in question, that the incident did not happen. Nothing we have subsequently done in terms of contacting drivers and speaking to witnesses has changed that."
Miss Fardon has now withdrawn her complaint. She said today: "I have continued to use the buses."
But it has emerged that several drivers have had problems with customers following publicity surrounding the complaint.
Mr De Santis added: "There have been one or two unsavoury incidents with our members of staff over the incident. We are very concerned that this has caused that and our drivers are not happy their reputation has been damaged. We now want to draw a line under this and get on with doing our job."
It has also emerged that Miss Fardon was prosecuted in 2004 for stealing from a couple who let her live with them in Swindon.
She was ordered to perform 200 hours of community service after appearing in court charged with five counts of obtaining property by deception, after admitting forging a signature on cheques.
Miss Fardon was also given further community service for charges of obstructing the police and theft."
Whether or not First Bus decide to take action against Farden is for them to know. It is just depressing to think that drivers have been victimised for a fictional event dreamt up by a compulsive liar. No witnesses or drivers to substantiate the story. A highly damaging story that should have been easily dismissed as nonsense, was printed as truth, due to over reliance on unsubstantiated wire stories, and it hitting the right emotional buttons in certain sections.
How uplifting.
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