Midland Red company which is part of the Stagecoach group in Coventry has pleaded guilty for offences under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, for significant health and safety failings after an elderly and fatigued bus driver ploughed into the wall of a Sainsbury's supermarket, killing an eight-year-old passenger and an elderly pedestrian.
On 3 October 2015, Kailash Chander, who was retired but continued to work at Stagecoach as a relief driver, mistook the accelerator for the brake before crashing into the shop, which was described in court as gross failure by the driver.
Chander who is the former Mayor of Leamington Spa, was given a two-year supervision order after he was ruled mentally unfit to stand trial due to dementia.
The transport company was fined £2.3 million and ordered to pay costs of £7,214 for allowing Chander to continue working despite warnings and complaints about his driving and previous incidents, putting members of the public and their own staff at risk.
In mitigation, the court was told that the company had a good safety record but accepted the prosecution's case against it in full.
