£2.3m fine for death crash bus company

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 accelerated into a Sainsbury’s in Coventry in 2015, BBC News reported.

Chander 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.

Seven-year-old Rowan Fitzgerald died of a head injury when the bus crashed while pedestrian Dora Hancox died after being struck by the bus and a falling lamppost.

Chander had mistaken the accelerator for the brake.

Phil Medlicott, managing director of Midland Red (South) Ltd said the company is “deeply sorry” and “bears the weight of our responsibility for this tragedy”.

“We deeply regret the opportunities that were missed to act decisively on emerging warning signs,” he said.

The bus company admitted failings including allowing Chander to work in excess of 70-hours a week and allowing him to continue working despite warnings about his driving.