Officials at Nottingham Express Transit and Police officers have welcomed the news that a man who assaulted a travel officer has received a prison sentence. Salmou Njie was sentenced at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Monday 24th April after being found guilty of assault by beating and pleading guilty to possession of cannabis.
He was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison and Nottingham Express are hopeful this sentence will prove a deterrent to others in the future.
Chris Wright, Managing Director of Nottingham Trams Limited, said: “We simply will not tolerate any abusive behaviour towards our employees who work tirelessly to provide a valuable public service. Fortunately, nobody was seriously hurt during this incident, but assaults of any kind can have a lasting impact on the wellbeing of the victim. We will always do all we can to help bring offenders to justice. We are pleased that, as in previous cases of assaults on our staff, this unacceptable attack on someone who was simply doing their job has resulted in a jail term for the perpetrator.”
The incident happened on 26th December 2022, when Njie started shouting at a tram driver at The Forest and was challenged about his behaviour by travel officers who were involved in an operation to clamp down on fare dodgers. But despite their efforts to de-escalate the situation, he became aggressive towards them and kicked one of the staff members to the back of her knee and tried to grab her before running off. Njie was later arrested and found to be in possession of a small bag of cannabis.
At the court hearing he was also convicted of two further counts of cannabis possession and two counts of failing to surrender to custody.
Sergeant Richard Hunter, from Nottinghamshire Police, said: “We continue to work closely with our colleagues at NET to ensure the tram remains safe for both customers and staff. This cooperation includes sharing CCTV footage and regular operations to deter crime. This was an assault on a NET employee who was just trying to defuse the situation along with her colleagues. Thankfully, we were able to track down Njie and bring him to justice for his heinous actions. “I hope this case acts as a warning and deterrent to others who think such senseless behaviour will be tolerated in our communities.”