TODAY my article is about justice. How many times have we heard the phrase “it’s not fair”? Children say it all the time, as we did when we were young.

In the dictionary it says it means – among other things – that punishment should be appropriate to the offence. So how about this story of an incident that happened in our own county...

A young student in a wheelchair was waiting after school at a bus stop with his classmates.

The bus pulled in and the driver announced that the wheelchair couldn’t board as there was a pushchair in the space and refused to ask the owner to move.

I have written about this before but today I want you to think about who allowed this offence to happen and to decide who should be called to account and what is appropriate action.

All drivers have disability awareness training so they know they must ask for the pushchair to be moved.

Obviously then the driver is first in line and should receive some sort of sharp reminder and his record to show this.

There are cameras on board so facts can easily be established and bus companies will always check both sides of a complaint.

The student’s classmates were so disgusted they refused to get on the bus and waited with him for the next bus. Well it certainly couldn’t be them and if anything they should receive a certificate of merit and publicity for standing up for what was right. But if we look a little further, what about the person with the pushchair?

Notices on the bus tell quite clearly what is expected of pushchair owners. Why refuse to move? There is plenty of room for a pushchair other than the wheelchair space. What punishment should that person receive? Nothing we can do now I am afraid but maybe a guilty conscience will generate guilty feelings and live in the mind for a long time?

But, more importantly, could something have been done at the time? Yes it certainly could. Why didn’t other passengers stand up for this student? Did they turn a blind eye and a deaf ear and sit passively watching this drama? It would appear so and that is not good. Would you do this or would you make some sort of protest? I hope the latter

But how about the bus companies? Is their policy on Disability Awareness Training strict enough to deter drivers from obeying it? How about the county council? Should there be some penalty for bus companies whose drivers fail to honour the wheelchair space?

And last of all the Government. They are always in the firing line. They have produced a disability action plan document on making transport a successful experience for disabled people. But how long before we see the benefits of this?

Meanwhile the general public are our best allies. Stand up for injustice, join us in making our voices heard. It doesn’t cost any money so why not?

I know what I am going to do. I have an action plan and I will be making every effort to get it in place.