Nine hurt as bus slams into city-centre supermarket

[dutchman]

Bus firm admits guilt over Sainsbury's crash

A bus operator has expressed its sorrow over a fatal crash after failing to prevent risks of "driver error" linked to fatigue and excessive working hours.

Midland Red (South) Ltd pleaded guilty to two charges brought under Health and Safety law after an inquiry into the 2015 deaths of a passenger and a pedestrian in Coventry city centre.

The firm's solicitor entered guilty pleas to both charges at Coventry Magistrates' Court a week after 79-year-old bus driver Kailash Chander appeared before JPs charged with causing death by dangerous driving.

The firm, which was committed for sentence at Warwick Crown Court, admitted a charge of failing to ensure the safety of employees between April 2015 and the day of the fatal crash six months later.

The second charge admitted by the company stated that it failed to ensure members of the public were not exposed to risks to their safety arising out of the driving of public service vehicles by Chander.

Covering the same dates at the first charge, the second admitted count stated that the firm failed to prevent or control risks of driver error "due to lack of capability and/or fatigue and/or working hours, which were excessive in the circumstances."

The managing director of Midland Red, Steve Burd, and its operations director, Jim Mortimore, attended court on behalf of the company, which is based at offices in Daw Bank, Stockport.

The facts of the safety breaches were not opened by prosecutor Michael Gregory, who told District Judge Lesley Mottram: "The prosecution submission is that this matter is so serious that you should use your powers to commit it to the Crown Court for sentencing."

The firm was ordered to appear at the higher court on October 6.

Chander, from Leamington, has yet to enter a plea and is due back in court on the same date.

It'll be a token fine then plus a pay rise and bonus payments for the company directors?

[rebbonk]

This amounts to corporate manslaughter in my eyes. Those at the top and responsible must be adequately punished if the law is to be seen to be being applied and upheld. - I won't hold my breath though.

[dutchman]

Those at the top and responsible must be adequately punished if the law is to be seen to be being applied and upheld.

We both know that's never going to happen though!

[dutchman]

Sainsbury's bus crash: Jury rules OAP driver caused deaths



CoventryLive can now report, after reporting restrictions were lifted, that Chander was deemed unfit to stand trial after the judge in the case heard that he is suffering from dementia.

This means he would have been unable to follow what was happening in court, enter a plea or even mount a defence from the witness stand.

Instead the jury in the case had to decide whether or not Chander, now 80 years old, had carried out the acts alleged against him – which they did.

The ‘finding of facts’ trial took place at Birmingham Crown Court, with Chander excused from having to attend, and lasted for five days before the jury returned their verdicts.

Chander was also found to have caused serious injury to two people by driving dangerously on that day.

The charges brought against Chander, a former mayor of Leamington Spa and driver of over 40 years experience, put the blame on his already heavily-burdened shoulders.

And a jury agreed.

Even though Chander was unfit to stand trial due to his dementia , as well as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, a ‘finding of facts’ trial took place in his absence.

After hearing five days of evidence, the jury ruled that Chander had indeed done the acts alleged, meaning that he had caused the deaths of Mrs Hancox and schoolboy Rowan by dangerous driving, as well injuring two others – Rowan’s cousin Paige Wilson and a student named Aleksei Rodin.

The accused cannot be found guilty in a fact-finding trial as they are unable to mount a defence.

The verdict left the judge in the case with three options in how to deal with Chander: a hospital order, a supervision order or an absolute discharge.

Judge Paul Farrer is yet to decide and will lay down his judgement at a later date.

[rebbonk]

The cynic in me wonders if we are seeing Ernest Saunders (Guinness) all over again.

[dutchman]

I thought that too. Capable of driving a bus (albeit badly) yet not capable of standing trial? Methinks he'll be granted an absolute discharge then make a remarkable recovery.

[Melisandre]

I thought that too. Capable of driving a bus (albeit badly) yet not capable of standing trial? Methinks he'll be granted an absolute discharge then make a remarkable recovery.

My thoughts exactly is it because he was once was Leamington mayor protect their own that was my thoughts right from the start that he would be let off with it because of that.

[dutchman]

Coventry supermarket death crash bus company fined £2.3m

A bus company that ignored warnings about a driver who crashed into a supermarket, killing two people, has been fined £2.3m.

Midland Red (South) Ltd admitted health and safety breaches after Kailash Chander, now 80, accelerated into a Sainsbury's in Coventry in 2015.

Chander, from Leamington Spa, was found to have been driving dangerously at a fact finding trial in September.

He could not be found guilty as he was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial.

The bus company, which is part of the Stagecoach group, was sentenced alongside Chander, who was diagnosed with dementia after the crash, at a two-day hearing at Birmingham Crown Court.

Judge Paul Farrer said "the failings of the company were a significant cause" of the crash.

Warnings about Chander were "not enforced, and almost immediately ignored," he said.

Chander was handed a two-year supervision order, meaning he will be monitored by a doctor.

Chander's barrister Robert Smith told the court the former Leamington Spa mayor was "traumatised" by the crash and now requires full-time care.

An expert told the court he may have been suffering from undiagnosed dementia at the time of the crash.

[Melisandre]

Do the victims family get that money I doubt