Bus driver admits causing death

Albert Rowley, suffered a compound fracture to his leg when a double decker bus driven by Saeed Abbas, 26, crashed off the road in Huddersfield.

Mr Rowley, of Brighouse, a retired stone mason, died in hospital three weeks after the incident in September last year in which 29 other passengers were also injured.

Abbas, of Ramsey Street, Little Horton, yesterday, also denied two counts of dangerous driving on the same day but admitted two lesser charges of careless driving.

The court heard that Abbas admitted fatigue caused the accident, which happened when his bus veered off the A641 Bradford Road and into a garden in Fartown.

Earlier in his shift, Abbas had been seen to be apparently reading documents while driving, in one instance for a period of 55 seconds, and again later for 17 seconds, prosecutor Andrew Dallas told the court.

Abbas, who stood in the dock wearing jeans, a jacket and a striped jumper and was helped by an interpreter to understand the proceedings, was ordered to surrender his driving licence and was disqualified from driving until he is sentenced next year.

Adjourning the case for pre-sentence reports, Judge Roger Scott told him: "I'm making no promises as to what will happen to you."

He continued: "You are bound to be disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for a minimum term of at least two years. All sentencing options are open to the judge, including locking you up."

Abbas was bailed to appear at Bradford Crown Court for sentencing on January 23 next year.

After the court hearing, Khadim Hussain, managing director of First in Bradford, said Abbas was no longer in the company's employ.

He said: "Following a lengthy internal investigation the employee in question has left the company. We review and audit our driver training on a regular basis and are constantly carrying out improvements to our processes to ensure drivers are trained to the highest standard."