Prison van spotted driving in Bristol with rear door open
Driver Wayne English was shocked to see a prison van travelling through Bristol with its back door swinging open and shut.
Mr English, 28, was in Winterstoke Road when he saw the Reliance van at 7.20am on a Friday morning. He followed it along Hartcliffe Way until it turned off up Novers Lane.
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Prison van driving in Bristol with rear door open
He said: "At every roundabout the door was bouncing wide open. I thought, hang on, this shouldn't be happening. At first I was expecting somebody to jump out."
Once he realised a jailbreak was not imminent, Mr English decided that rather than trying to alert the driver, he would pull back and photograph and video the van using his mobile phone.
"I wanted to make an example of it," he added. "This could be a security risk, as well as a danger to other road users. I was surprised that the driver did not realise the door was loose. It doesn't look good."
Mr English, of Shepherd Road, Oldbury Court, Fishponds, a forklift truck driver at The Matching Brick Company in Bedminster, recalled an incident in which a teenager died after falling from an ambulance as it was going along.
Martin Harris, of Reliance, told the Post that the van was not carrying prisoners at the time.
He said: "The driver was on the way to make a collection from a police station. There was no one in the back.
"Initial investigations show that an isolator switch, which would have shown the door was open, was off."
Mr Harris said that when the rear of the vehicle was in use, a light in the driver's cab would show that the door was locked. At other times, the locks had to be checked in the same way as any other driver would
15 Comments
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by Sam, Bristol
Friday, April 24 2009, 12:13PM
“Well Wayne, I actually commented (if you'd bothered to read all comments) that you must have been the passenger, or possible had a passenger do the filming.
I don't believe your comments are particularly nice or useful and so now think your surname should be Kerr!”
by catherine, bristol
Friday, April 24 2009, 11:43AM
“I know Wayne and i also know he gets a lift to work therefore know he wasnt driving!! In my opinion fair play to wayne. If some one WAS in the back every ones comments would have been alot different!!”
by wayner, bristol
Friday, April 24 2009, 9:48AM
“SORRY I WAS BUSY YAWNING............”
by Denise, Bristol
Friday, April 24 2009, 9:12AM
“Tell me is being an INBRERADS the same as being illiterate? As judging my your spelling I would have said you are the one with 6 fingers on each hand!! Also filming sideways is that something to do with the amount of fingers one has??
As a ¿non¿ Reliance employee & as I as far as I am aware a ¿non inbrerad!¿ I can¿t really get my head around what you where expecting to gain by getting someone probably disciplined, possibly suspended, or maybe even dismissed! Surely trying to warn the driver of the situation would have been the ¿non imbrerad¿ action to take. Well done again Wayne!!”
by wayne...aka mr ENGLISH..., bristol
Friday, April 24 2009, 6:55AM
“JUST SO ALL YOU BUNCH OF "RIFF RAFF" ARE AWARE I WAS ACTULEY THE PASSENGER IN THE CAR I WAS TRAVELING IN .......JUST GOES TO SHOW THAT YOU ARE MUPPETS WHO WILL JUMP ON ANY KNID OF "BAND WAGON" AND THAT THE COMMENTS ARE FROM STAFF MEMBERS OF RELIENCE SO YEA IM A BIT OVER THAT NOW TO BE HONIST........AS FOR USING MY PHONE ......IF YOU EVEN BOTHERD TO LOOK AT THE REST OF THE PHOTOS YOU WILLSEE I WAS THE PASSENGER AND NOT THE DRIVER AS THE ANGLE OF THE PICTURES WERE TAKEN FROM THAT SIDE.....BUT NOOO AS TRUE TYPICAL BRISTOL INBRERADS YOU WILL ACT BEFORE THINKING....AND I NEED TO GET A LIFE........YOU LOT ARE THE SAD INBREADS WHO COULDENT WAIT TO GET TO A COMPUTER THEN TYPE THIS LOAD OF SH1TE SO WHO IS THE SAD ONE...YEA YOU!!!....SO YEA OFF YOU ALL TROTT THEN COZ IM SURE YOU WILL LEAVE ME SOME LOVLEY ENJOYABLE READING BECAUSE YOU ARE SAD LIKE THAT.”