School bus driver, 63, who injured 12 children by slamming on the brakes after pupils wouldn’t stop ringing the bell can carry on driving coaches after keeping his licence
- Roger Wells, 63, hit the brakes, injuring school pupils on the bus he was driving
- Wells claimed the pupils wouldn’t stop ringing the bus’ bell before he braked
- Driver has been fined and given penalty points but allowed to keep his licence
- Judge ordered him to pay £1600 and handed him ten penalty points after jury convicted him of careless and inconsiderate driving
A school bus driver who injured 12 children by slamming on the brakes when pupils would not stop ringing the bell has kept his licence.
Pupils from Uplands Community College in East Sussex were thrown about the bus when Roger Wells, 63, hit on the brakes of his double decker in October 2018.
The sudden stop caused a 12-year-old boy to hurl into the upstairs windscreen, cracking it. A pole on the lower deck was also ripped out, injuring children.
Wells stepped over youngsters thrown to the floor of his bus to replace the pole before shouting at them again.
Now, a judge has ordered him to pay £1600 and handed him ten penalty points – not enough for him to lose his driving licence – after a jury convicted him of careless and inconsiderate driving.
The judge told him she would keep the points on his licence to the minimum and would not disqualify him.
Roger Wells, 63, hit on the brakes of his double decker in October 2018, injuring school children
The judge told him she would keep the points on his licence to the minimum and would not disqualify him
HHJ Janet Waddicor said Wells had continued to drive without committing any further offences since the incident in October 2018.
She told him: ‘I’m not going to disqualify you.
‘Had they been serious injuries, no doubt you would have been charged with a more serious offence.’
The driver, with 40 years experience behind the wheel of a bus, lost his rag when somebody on his bus rang the stop bell constantly after he picked up pupils from Uplands Community College in East Sussex to take them home
He told the 98 kids on his overloaded double decker he would take them back to school if they did not stop ringing the bell.
Wells slammed the brakes when his threat failed and, after performing a U-turn, he drove the bus back to the school.
The sudden stop caused a 12-year-old boy to hurl into the upstairs windscreen, cracking it. A pole on the lower deck was also ripped out, injuring children
Judge Waddicor told Wells he had been convicted by compelling evidence.
‘The children were messing around on the bus. Whatever it was that prompted you to brake very severely, there were important consequences for the children. Many were thrown about.’
A jury at Lewes Crown Court, East Sussex heard Wells had already admitted failing to stop and failing to report an accident to police.
Judge Waddicor said: ‘You were aware of all of these injuries. You ought to have reported it to the police. You have said you were unaware of the obligation.
‘It surprises me a man who has passed no end of tests and with 40 years experience should be ignorant of that requirement.’
The judge criticised the school handling of pupil travel as buses were regularly overcrowded, the judge said.
‘The school arrangements for boarding the bus were slap dash at best.
‘Somebody ought to be sorting it out sharpish.
‘The parents have repeatedly expressed their concerns to the school,’ the judge said.
Wells, of Wadhurst, was fined £750 and seven penalty points on his licence after a jury found him guilty of careless and inconsiderate driving.
He was fined £250 with another three points for failing to report an accident.
He was also ordered to pay £600 prosecution costs.