Teenager admits bus stop stabbing

Ruby could be detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act

An 18-year-old man has admitted stabbing three teenage girls as they got off a packed bus in a Dorset town.

Kirsty Edwards, 17, Charlotte Teague, 14, and Sophie Hyne, 15, were seriously hurt in the attack at a bus stop in East Street, Bridport, on 23 August.

Ian Ruby, of Court Close, Bridport, also admitted possessing a machete and a knife when he was arrested at a hospital in Surrey three days later.

The case at Dorchester Crown Court was adjourned for psychiatric reports.

Unemployed Ruby, who lived with his mother, admitted three charges of wounding with intent and possessing an offensive weapon.

He was remanded in custody and told he could be detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act.

We have taken someone off the street that clearly has been or still is a danger to the public Det Insp Marcus Hester

Det Insp Marcus Hester said that Kirsty, from Staffordshire, Charlotte and Sophie, both from Bridport, had been sitting behind Ruby on the number 31 bus ride from Dorchester to Bridport.

He said: "During the course of that journey it would appear that there was some taunting towards Mr Ruby from the girls on the bus. That continued to one degree or another until they arrived in Bridport."

He said eyewitnesses saw him follow the three friends off the bus before repeatedly stabbing them.

Paramedics treated the victims at the scene of the stabbing

Passers-by used their hands and towels to stem the blood from the girls' injuries before they were taken to Dorset County Hospital.

Sophie had been stabbed in the face and upper body, Kirsty in her back and stomach and Charlotte in the chest and abdomen.

On 26 August, Ruby went to St Peter's Hospital in Chertsey with a severe cut to his finger, sustained during the attack.

A nurse alerted police and, when they arrested him, he was carrying a holdall with all his belongings, a machete, balaclava, nylon temporary handcuffs, tape and an array of knives, Mr Hester said.

Det Insp Hester added: "The girls are coping very well. There's no long-lasting physical injuries.

"We have taken someone off the street that clearly has been or still is a danger to the public."

The case was adjourned until January 2007.