Peshwari Naan

The Press Association reports on 26th November 2008...

Death crash coach driver jailed

A National Express coach driver who caused a terrifying crash which left three passengers dead while giving a safety announcement as he sped around a bend has been jailed for five years.

Philip Rooney, 49, was speaking over the vehicle's public address system while trying to negotiate a 40mph bend at 55mph when he lost control.

Father of three Rooney, of Larkshill Drive, Carluke, Scotland, was also banned from driving for three years at Oxford Crown Court after pleading guilty to three counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

The court heard the double-decker coach carrying 69 passengers overturned and skidded along on its side on the M4/M25 slip road near Heathrow Airport.

Rooney was driving like he was "possessed" before the crash - probably in a bid to make up for lost time following a delay caused by a luggage problem, a judge was told.

Many of those on the overnight London to Aberdeen service had to be cut from the wreckage on January 3 last year.

Christina Toner, 76, from Dundee, and 30-year-old Yi Di Lin, a Chinese national, died following the crash.

John Carruthers, 78, of Chertsey, Surrey, died six months later in hospital.

Another 65 people were injured, including four who had to have amputations and 19 who suffered fractures.

BBC News reports on 26th November 2008...

M25 coach death driver is jailed

A coach driver who admitted causing the deaths of three passengers by dangerous driving in a crash near Heathrow Airport has been jailed for five years.

Oxford Crown Court heard that Philip Rooney was making a safety announcement while speeding round a bend when he lost control of the coach.

The London-to-Aberdeen National Express service overturned on the M4/M25 slip road on 3 January 2007.

Rooney, 49, of Lanarkshire, drove like a "possessed" man, the court was told.

Christina Toner, 76, from Monifieth, and Yi Di Lin, 30, a Chinese national, died in the crash while John Carruthers, 78, of Chertsey, Surrey, died in hospital on 1 July.

Four passengers had to have limbs amputated, while 61 others were injured. Many had to be cut from the wreckage by emergency services.

Richard Latham QC, prosecuting, said the driver, from Carluke, kept breaking speed limits, as evident in the tachograph readings, as he left Victoria coach station for Heathrow.

Rooney's driving and heavy braking of the double-decker bus caused bags to fall off the luggage shelf, passengers said.

The court heard Rooney was delayed for half-an-hour when one family's luggage could not fit into the coach and he had to call a taxi to carry it.

As he reached the slip road for the M25, Rooney ignored the 40mph speed limit and was driving at 55mph.

Mr Latham said passengers noted the bus was being "driven significantly faster, as if the driver was seeking to make up for lost time".

When the bus clipped a barrier after leaving Heathrow the driver lost control resulting in the bus skidding and travelling sideways before striking a crash barrier and overturning.

One passenger had said: "After Heathrow the driver drove like he was possessed. He kept overtaking everything and going like the clappers."

Referring to the extent of injuries Mr Latham gave the example of Samia Berbiche, an Albanian national, who was with her three-year-old son and eight-month-old daughter.

In the crash she lost part of her right leg, her son lost part of his right leg and lower left arm, and her baby daughter lost one of her lower legs.

During an earlier hearing the court that Rooney had been caught speeding in passenger vehicles on five other occasions.

He was also disciplined by his employer in December 2004 for tampering with a speed limiter on his vehicle so he could drive faster.

Oxford Crown Court also banned the father-of-three from driving for three years.