They forgot to disembark a 9-year-old boy with a disability from a school bus, as a result of which he stayed for at least half an hour inside the vehicle and suffered dehydration.

For the incident, which happened last September, in Oreokastro, Thessaloniki and was brought to the Court of Justice following a complaint by a relative of the minor, the bus driver and an attendant – a teacher were convicted. The Single-Member Misdemeanor Court of Thessaloniki found them guilty of negligent bodily harm and sentenced each of them to 8 months in prison, suspended for three years.

According to the case file, the (then) 9-year-old boy was going to attend an afternoon program at a Children’s Creative Employment Center (KDAP) and for this reason he boarded the bus from his home. In the same vehicle were other children attending the same program. Arriving at KDAP, the children got off the bus normally, except for the 9-year-old, without anyone noticing. It took some time for the driver on the next shift to realize that the child had been abandoned on the bus.

The defense presented medical documents showing the child suffered dehydration, while the prosecutor spoke of “shock” the boy experienced.

“I stared but did not see the child. What can I tell you, I blame myself” said the 43-year-old driver in his apology. For her part, the 24-year-old teacher apologized: “I didn’t see the child, probably because he was lying down, he was asleep. I would have to go through all the positions to look. Until then, I had never had the slightest misdemeanor. I was upset and have a heavy sense of responsibility. I do this job because I love it. Obviously, what happened is costing me.”