A BUS driver whose lack of attention caused the death of a young man who was hit as he crossed the road in front of him has escaped a prison sentence.
James O’Reilly was on his route in Coventry in January when his National Express bus struck 20-year-old Waqas Hussain as he was crossing Foleshill Road.
O’Reilly, of Wellington Avenue, Stratford, pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court earlier this year to causing Mr Hussain’s death by careless driving.
But at Coventry Crown Court, after reading psychiatric and pre-sentence reports on 55-year-old O’Reilly, Judge Philip Gregory gave him a 12-month community sentence.
As part of the sentence O’Reilly, who was disqualified from driving for 12 months, will have to undergo 20 days of rehabilitation.
The court heard the charge follows a tragic incident in Foleshill Road at around 2pm on Wednesday January 11.
Mr Hussain, who was from Coventry, was hit by a National Express bus being driven by O’Reilly, and with shocked passengers on board, and suffered severe heads injuries.
Following the collision at the junction with Edmund Road, Mr Hussain suffered cardiac arrest, and his heart was re-started by paramedics before he was rushed to hospital by ambulance.
But his injuries were so severe that he died two days later after the life support machine was turned off, with his father by his bedside holding his hand.
Foleshill Road, one of the main arteries into the city centre, was closed for a number of hours after the collision as accident investigators examined the scene.
After entering his plea in September, O’Reilly was to have been sentenced in early November, but the case had to be adjourned following his admission to a psychiatric unit.
And as a result of that, a psychiatric report was ordered on him, in addition to the pre-sentence report which had already been ordered.
