A Manchester student has shared a deeply upsetting video revealing the misogynist abuse she suffered during a recent journey on a university bus in the city centre.
Posted on a private Facebook group on 17 April, the student who wishes to remain anonymous for obvious reasons, shared three videos which captured an unknown individual subjecting her to horrific levels of verbal abuse while riding a Stagecoach bus near the unis.
Said to have occurred on the 42C service from Handforth Dean to Piccadilly Gardens along the Oxford Road corridor, the student boarded the bus and soon began to be abused by “a guy in his early 20s”.
Just to pre-warn you, there’s some very upsetting stuff in here:
Despite trying to ignore him, the man continues to abuse her indirectly, launching into a disgusting, misinformed and utterly deluded diatribe against women.
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As the student wrote in the caption: “Just want to draw people’s attention to something that happened to me about 3pm today getting on the 42C bus by uni. As I get on the bus there was a guy in his early 20s (white, blonde shaggy hair, tracksuit) with a beer bottle in hand on a pretty unsettling misogynistic rant.
“He soon turned his attention to me as a lone female passenger on the bus – he called me a bitch multiple times, told me he’d thought about killing his family and that he might kill me one day and asked me why I was so frightened of him.”
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She explains how “two lovely girls asked [her] to get off the bus early with them” and as she disembarked he remarked, “yeah I’d advise you do get off the bus because I’m going to f***ing kill you if you don’t”. Truly disturbing and concerning stuff.
The Manchester student said she reported the misogynist abuse and death threats to 111 but was told it was “probably just a one-off incident” and that “he’d just had a few too many”. However, as you can hear in the audio, the man sounds fairly able to articulate, beer in hand or not.
As she went on to add, “I believe he’s probably on this bus multiple times a week harassing multiple different women and I want students to be made aware… I just want people to be especially vigilant and look after each other when using public transport.”
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She also encouraged others who may have experienced similar to get in touch should they need to talk about it and one person in the comments noted that “someone of a similar description outside of Cornbrook [tram stop] at around 6pm.
“Very similar slurs, primarily attacking women or those that appeared as such as they walked past. Very threatening language and spitting everywhere. Absolutely disgusting.” What’s saddening to know is that she will won’t be the only female Manchester student to have been made feel uncomfortable on public transport around the city.
We approached Greater Manchester Police for further comment but they are yet to respond; neither Transport for Greater Manchester, Stagecoach nor the universities are yet to issue a statement either.
It goes without saying that we’re so sorry she had to go through this and we’d urge any who has been through a similar experience to raise the issue with the likes of GMP and TfGM to help better police these incidents.
Police officer who sexually assaulted a child while on duty sacked
Daisy Jackson
A ‘morally reprehensible’ police officer who sexually assaulted a child while on duty has been sacked and barred from service.
GMP held an accelerated misconduct hearing with PC Dean Dempster, 35, and he has been dismissed without notice.
The disgraced officer admitted ‘sexually touching’ the six-year-old child in December 2023 and is set to be sentenced at a later date.
He was a response officer in Oldham at the time that the offence was reported, and was arrested by a supervisor when he returned to work the next day.
A senior officer has now said that Dempster ‘has no right to be in police uniform or in a position to serve the public’.
Another said it was ‘among the most distressing cases ever presented’ and a ‘despicable betrayal’ of police duties.
Dempster was convicted of sexually assaulting a young girl while responding to an incident on 29 December 2023.
He was convicted at Liverpool Crown Court in February and remained suspended since being charged at the end of last year.
Presiding over today’s hearing, CC Watson found PC Dempster’s conduct amounted to gross misconduct, saying: “This sexual assault occurred whilst the officer was on duty and where the victim was totally trusting and reliant on him performing his duties professionally, compassionately and with her welfare uppermost in his thoughts.
“It is this most egregious breach of trust of an innocent young child that is most upsetting aspect of this case and something that clearly amounts to an aggravating factor.
“I consider this case to be among the most distressing ever presented to me such is the despicable betrayal of all that is inherent in being a decent police officer.
“I have no hesitation whatsoever in dismissing PC Dempster from the service with immediate effect.”
Detective Chief Superintendent Mike Allen, head of GMP’s Professional Standards Directorate, said: “Dean Dempster is not a police officer, he’s a child sex offender who has no right to be in police uniform or in a position to serve the public.
“We have no time for people like Dempster who should not be in GMP and does not represent us.
“This is why we’re increasingly using accelerated misconduct hearings to root out and boot out officers who are unfit to serve in our uniform, and this work will continue while ever they remain.”
Dempster has been added to the College of Policing Barred List by Chief Constable Stephen Watson, who described Dempster’s actions as ‘morally reprehensible’.
GMP used accelerated proceedings as part of its pledge to ‘root and boot’ officers unfit to serve the public.
The force is now writing to the Deputy Mayor of GM to appeal for Dempster to lose his right to a police pension.
Manchester City reveals details around the first Andy’s Man Club sessions at the Etihad Stadium
Danny Jones
Manchester City have released the first details surrounding their inaugural Andy’s Man Club sessions at the Etihad Campus.
One of the most important charities in the UK when it comes to male mental health and suicide prevention, Andy’s Man Club and even its logo alone have become a recognisable force for good over the past few years, and the significance of bringing it to such a big scale as City cannot be overstated.
The football club first announced the partnership back in February and has already been working closely with the non-profit organisation to promote better wellbeing amongst men, getting first-team stars such as defender John Stones to open up about his own experiences with mental health just last month.
With that in mind, the word is now out that Man City will be providing yet another location for groups to meet and crucially talk through Andy’s Man Club sessions, confirming details around their first meeting from next week onwards.
Set to kick off in the East Stand of the Etihad Stadium from 7-9pm on Monday, 13 May, Man City will not only help deliver a vital outlet for men in the East Manchester area but become just the latest in a long line of teams to back the regular support group.
Joining over 180 clubs nationwide – including the likes of Altrincham FC, Ashton United and Bolton Wanderers, just to name a few in the Greater Manchester area – Andy’s Mans Club is currently helping well over 4,000 men open up and combat their struggles through peer-to-peer sessions.
Founded by a group of nine blokes from Halifax back in 2016 to create positive change in men’s mental health, Andy’s Man Club now helps gather men aged 18 and over across the country every week throughout the year.
In alignment with other partnered clubs Andy’s Man Clubs across the country, attendees will be asked to arrive from 18:30 (UK) ahead of the 19:00 start time.
The sessions are free with registration or ID required and, more importantly, there’s no pressure to talk if you don’t want to. The first step is easy: just listen.
Just because it’s being held at City’s ground doesn’t mean you have to be a season ticket holder, have an official Cityzens membership to attend or anything like that, you can simply arrive via the East Stand reception (Door F) and join the session.
Attendees will be greeted on arrival by trained volunteers from Andy’s Man Club who will guide them through the stadium. With the club now on board, group sessions will be running at the same time every week (except bank holiday Mondays) with the first dates scheduled for the following nights this month:
Monday 13 May
Monday 20 May
Monday 3 June
Monday 10 June
Well done to all those involved in bringing Andy’s Man Club to Manchester City and the East Manchester community. We hope the sessions will help those going along as they have done for thousands of others.