Bus driver told girl stranded on last ride home: “I’ll warm you up” before sexually assaulting her

A bus driver told a teenager who fell asleep on the last bus home, “I’ll warm you up,” before sexually assaulting her.

Damien Doyle offered the girl a ride home when she was stranded at the train station late at night with no money. But when she got into his car, he locked the doors and said, “I bet you get really horny when you’re drunk.”

A trial at Liverpool Crown Court heard that the 16-year-old victim had taken a bus from Queen Square in Liverpool city centre to St Helens late one night in September 2022, but fell asleep during the journey. She then woke up at the depot to find that there were no trains running that evening, the Liverpool Echo reports.

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Prosecutor Steven Ball described how she had no cash on her and did not want to call her parents to come and collect her because she was “afraid they would get angry”. But she spotted Doyle, of Birchwood Way, Kirkby, outside as he walked back to his car after his shift and approached him.

The 48-year-old then offered her a ride home and told her he had a daughter her age and would “hate for her to be in that situation.” But as they sat in the car, the military veteran put his hand on hers and said: “Oh my God.

“You’re cold. I’ll warm you up.”

Doyle, who had worked as a bus driver for 15 years, continued to ask her if she had a boyfriend, complimented her and “wrapped her hands around.” He also told her, “I bet you get really horny when you’re drunk. I could take us to the beach right now.”

The father then locked the doors of his vehicle, put his hand on her leg and began to stroke her inner thigh while he was still driving after turning towards Kirkby. However, the “terrified” teenager told him there had been a “change of plans” and that her friend was coming to pick her up.

Doyle then let her out of the car and she hid in a bush until she was picked up. In a statement read out in court on her behalf, the victim said: “I felt so vulnerable in that moment with someone I thought I could trust.”

“When he suggested going to the beach, my heart sank. I began to think of the stories of terrible things that happen to girls and sometimes kill them.

“The feeling of his hand rubbing the inside of my thigh is something I will never forget. He has no empathy for how I felt that night, no guilt for his actions, and no self-awareness for his inappropriate behavior.”

Doyle’s previous convictions include assault records in 1996 and 2008, but none for sexual offences. Carmel Wilde, defending, told the court: “He denies the offence.”

“His partner is sitting in the back of the courtroom and has been here throughout the entire trial. She knows a better side of him and is standing by his side.

“He hasn’t been in trouble for some time. Nothing since 2008.”

“He previously served in the armed forces and had an exemplary career. He has always been employed and is hardworking.”

“It was an opportunistic crime. It was not something he would have sought out, looking for young girls.

“The plaintiff said very eloquently that she did not want this man to go to prison. She wanted to understand why someone would do such a thing.”

Doyle was found guilty by a jury of one count of sexual assault. He was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for ten years.

Passing sentence, Judge David Swinnerton said: “I accept that what happened was not planned in advance, but you tried to take advantage of the opportunity. That was, in my view, predatory behaviour.”

“There were two reasons why she got into the car with you. First, because you were a bus driver, and second, because she trusted you because you held a public position.

“The other reason was that you told her you had a daughter her age and you would hate for your daughter to be in that situation and so you would not abandon her. She was, not surprisingly, terrified.”

Doyle’s partner told him from the stands to “stay strong” as he was led into the cells.