Girl, six, stabbed by used needle ‘deliberately hidden’ between seats on a bus

A SIX-year-old girl was one of three kids who were pricked with a used needle hidden on a Stagecoach bus.

Matilda Dalley, from Immingham, Lincs, was pricked twice by the needle that had been hidden between two seats and under a ticket.

The girl was with her three stepsisters Courtney Burr, 17, Aimee Burr, 15, and Keira Burr, nine, who were all on their way from Grimsby to Cleesthorpes.

The schoolgirls got on the Stagecoach bus between 12.45pm and 1.15pm on Saturday.

Courtney told the Grimsby Telegraph: “We got on the Cleethorpes bus – number 4 – and when Matilda sat down, she said she felt a ‘sharp stab’.

“We didn’t think it was anything to worry about – just a feather or something – but she started crying and so Aimee checked the seat.

“She found a needle hidden between two bus seats and under a bus ticket.”

As Courtney and Aimee tried to remove the needle from between the seats they were both also pricked by it.

Courtney added: “I handed the needle over to the bus driver and he just said ‘Thanks, sorry about that’. He didn’t ask if we’d been pricked.”

Matilda’s mum Nikki Dalley said: “I was in a complete panic. They’d been back around an hour and Courtney said Matilda had been stabbed by a needle on the bus.

“I had a look and she had two marks on her bum. Courtney was also pricked on the thumb and Aimee on the finger when trying to pull out the needle.”

The girls were taken to the A&E department of Grimsby’s Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital where they were given injections for hepatitis B as a precautionary measure and blood tests.

All three will have to have a follow up injection in four weeks’ time plus another one after that.

The family now has an agonising wait for the results, Nikki said they were told they could have to wait up to nine months for the full results.

Nikki urged bus users to check their seats and surrounding area for other needles or harmful items and passed on advice about what to do if you are ever pricked by a needle.

She said to squeeze the area until it bleeds, then apply water, ideally salt water, clean it with a paper towel, put a plaster on it and head to A&E at once.

A Stagecoach spokesperson said: “We are very concerned to hear of this incident and our thoughts are with the little girl and her mum.

“It is totally irresponsible for anyone to discard a needle on one of our buses, which they must know is likely to cause a danger to other people.

“All of our buses are fitted with CCTV, which can be used in evidence to prosecute individuals engaged in antisocial behaviour.

“Thankfully, incidents of this nature are extremely rare and bus travel remains one of the safest forms of road transport.

“However, should anyone find any potentially dangerous items left by passengers on our buses they should immediately report it to the driver so that appropriate action can be taken.

“Bus drivers in Grimsby and Cleethorpes are in radio contact with supervisory staff who can quickly provide emergency assistance.”