Vandals cause £1,000 worth of damage to Ravenscliffe High School’s bus

It is thought it will cost the school £1,000 to repair the damage, caused when louts pelted stones at the bus, before one of them bounced on the roof before kicking in the sun roof, spraying glass everywhere.

Frustrated head teacher Martin Moorman said: “I believe if you do something like this, there should be consequences.

“Our minibus gets vulnerable young people out into the community, but because of this it has had to be off the road, and it will cost a lot of money to repair.

“As much as I was frustrated by the lack of response - I know the police are stretched and I know they have the toughest of jobs - but we have a system that makes these crimes just a statistic.

“There needs to be a wider debate about how we tackle this vandalism.

“If people aren’t held to account then things like this will escalate into bigger crimes.

“The criminal justice system doesn’t treat these things seriously enough because they have too many other things to deal with.

But I’m grateful to the police for their response. They insist it won’t be brushed under the carpet.

“I would like these people to come into our community and meet the people affected by what they’ve done, but maybe that’s me being naive.

“I’ve lived in Calderdale for 25 years, and I’ve stayed here because I care about the place and the people.

“I want us to do great things, and not have to deal with such things like this.”

The bus was funded by public donations, including a private donation of £20,000 towards the £70,000 overall cost.

In a statement, West Yorkshire Police said: “Enquiries are ongoing into an incident in Halifax in which a school bus was damaged by vandals.

“The incident happened at around 10.05pm on 12 May after suspects climbed onto the roof of a bus parked in a car park on Huddersfield Road and caused damage to the sky light.

“Police have recovered CCTV of the incident and would like to speak to anyone who has information or saw damage being caused to the bus.

“Anyone who can assist is asked to contact the Halifax Neighbourhood Policing Team on 101 referencing crime number 13190242046

“Information can also be given online at www.westyorkshire.police.uk/101Livechat or independently to the independent Crimestoppers charity.”