Bus driver jailed for crushing child

Monday, 13 October 2003 12:00 AM

A bus driver who crushed a boy to death under his double decker bus has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Paul Moses, 27, swerved to argue with a van driver, crashed into railings and mounted the pavement, killing four-year-old Donte Byron.

Moses was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving. The driver from Deptford, south-east London claimed he lost control of his number 36 Routemaster bus when a bee or wasp flew in through the window.

However, the trial at Inner London Crown Court heard how he became annoyed when a van driver pulled in front of him and he had swerved to argue with the driver.

The incident occurred in Peckham, south-east London, on August 7th 2002.

Donte had been walking hand in hand with his mother Samantha when the bus hit him. He was dragged under the vehicle's wheels, sustaining multiple injuries, and was declared dead at the scene.

Samantha, who was seven months pregnant at the time, broke her leg and was treated for shock. The unborn baby was unharmed.

As Moses was sentenced at Inner London Crown Court officers moved to separate friends of the driver from the boy's family after a heated exchange.

Outside court the Donte's father, accountant Dennis Seeley, condemned the sentence as "weak".

Judge Gregory Stone QC, sentencing, told Moses: "No-one looking at the video could fail to be aghast at the way in which you steered to the left and then completely failed to take any corrective action or to brake so as to avoid the footway and the pedestrians."

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