Footage of Worthing assault on bus 'lost' by Stagecoach

Toby Doyle, 30, from Worthing, was travelling home on a Stagecoach bus with his girlfriend after a night out in Brighton when he was attacked by three people just minutes away from his house.

He told The Argus that he was kicked “ten to 15 times in the head” by the group and that he was still recovering from the attack almost a month after the assault on October 30.

However, he claimed that footage of the attack was deleted or overwritten by the bus company, hampering the investigation into the incident.

Toby claimed that police had approached Stagecoach for CCTV footage of the incident, but were told they had to wait.

However, in an email seen by The Argus, police told him that the Stagecoach operations manager said that the footage had been lost.

Toby Doyle was left bloodied after the attack on a bus in Worthing (Image: Toby Doyle)

Toby said: “Seeing that the police went to speak to Stagecoach quite soon after the incident, I would have thought they would make sure they keep the footage.”

He also claimed that his attackers were allowed to get back onboard the bus and continue their journey, while he and his girlfriend went home to call the police.

“The worst thing about it is that I have to get on that bus every morning to get to work and I have to go past the place where that happened to me.

“I don’t think I should be going to work with some of the moods I’m in - I don’t feel safe in public.

“My main worry is that women won’t be safe on these buses. They can’t be allowed to delete this sort of CCTV footage. Stagecoach has been horrendous around this.”

Toby Doyle was kicked in the head and punched in the attack (Image: Toby Doyle)

A police spokesman said: “Sussex Police received a report at 3.45am on Sunday, October 30, of a man having been assaulted at a bus stop in Brighton Road, Worthing, shortly after alighting from a bus.

“An investigation was launched immediately, including attempts to locate the bus after the suspects were reported to have got back on board. Unfortunately, this was not possible.

“CCTV from surrounding cameras has also been viewed in order to identify any suspects and attempts were made to obtain footage from the bus company.

“The investigation is ongoing into a number of lines of enquiry and officers remain in close contact with the victim to ensure they are kept updated.”

The attack happened on a Stagecoach 700 bus in Worthing (Image: Stagecoach)

A spokesman for Stagecoach South said: “We can confirm we are assisting the police with their enquiries into the nature of an incident on one of our buses and the full circumstances involved.”