A 31-year-old passenger spat on a Ballarat bus driver because he did not wait long enough at his stop, a court has been told.
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Joshua Rosenow boarded the Canadian-bound bus at 3.15pm on June 28, 2017, when he complained to the driver for not stopping long enough.
Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Clint Prebble told the Ballarat Magistrates Court on Friday Rosenow also accused the driver of not doing his job properly.
He said the driver asked the accused if he had a job before Rosenow spat on him.
Police claimed the accused spat in the driver’s face, however Rosenow told the court he spat on his chest.
The bus driver attended the Ballarat Police Station to report the incident and hand in Rosenow’s mobile phone which he had left on the bus.
Leading Senior Constable Prebble said on August 7, 2017, Rosenow attended the police station and made full admissions to the offence and was remorseful.
Rosenow’s lawyer told the court there was no excuse for his behaviour, but his offending occurred in the context of his criminal history, which was “significant”.
She said her client was a full-time plasterer and voluntarily caught the bus. On the day of the incident, the bus driver picked Rosenow up on the third loop.
The defence lawyer said Rosenow’s behaviour was triggered when the driver said, “If you had a bloody job you wouldn’t be waiting for a bus”.
Magistrate Ron Saines took into account the driver’s remark may have been insulting to him.
“At least it didn’t escalate to anything further than being in the man’s face,” Mr Saines said.
Rosenow, who pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful assault, was convicted and fined $500.
