Bus driver sentenced for ordering maskless 12-year-old off bus

A bus driver in Thessaloniki was handed an eighty-month suspended sentence on Wednesday for exposing a minor to danger after he ordered an 12-year-old passenger off his bus because the child was not wearing a mask.

Police arrested the driver on Friday in Oreokastro, outside Thessaloniki, after the child’s parents pressed a lawsuit.

In court, the driver denied that he singled out the child, saying that he told everyone who did not wear a mask to get off the bus. He also claimed that he did not realize that the child had disembarked, nor that he was unaccompanied. The court was not convinced and took into account the the student’s testimony who said that he had to walk on the old highway for 45 minutes until his mother found him.

The driver appealed the ruling and was released.

Passengers on public transport in Greece are required to wear a mask to prevent the spread of coronavirus.