Orford bus driver, 75, sentenced after Newton crash with cyclist, 13

William Brennan, of Orford, was behind the wheel of the vehicle when it made contact with the teenager on a push bike in Newton-le-Willows.

He appeared before Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on Monday to be sentenced on charges of dangerous driving, failing to stop after an accident and failing to report an accident.

This came after he pleaded guilty to all of the offences on a previous occasion, with the date of sentence adjourned to allow time for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.

The charges relate to an incident which occurred on April 18 this year, explained Vincent Yip, prosecuting.

At around 3.30pm, the defendant was driving a double-decker bus on Acorn Street in Newton-le-Willows.

Close to the junction with Wargrave Road, Brennan made contact with the back tyre of a bicycle being ridden by a 13-year-old child.

This pushed the bike onto the road, but fortunately no injuries were caused. The bus came to a stop and the cyclist was able to get to a place of safety.

The matter was reported to Merseyside Police, with officers carrying out an investigation into the incident.

Brennan was found to be the driver of the bus at the time, and he was invited to a police interview at Edge Lane Police Station on September 17.

He was subsequently charged and admitted his guilt over the offences, with an interim disqualification imposed.

William Brennan leaving Liverpool Crown Court on a previous occasion

The court heard that Brennan is a man of ‘previous good character’, with no convictions or police cautions against him.

Ged Nolan, defending, said that his client is still in employment with a coach and bus firm in St Helens, with his employer submitting a ‘glowing’ testimonial in his favour, and the firm’s owner in court to support him.

“This was a real momentary lapse of reason, and a salutary lesson has been learnt,” Mr Nolan said.

“This gent of almost eight decades long appears before the court after losing his hitherto good character.”

It was said that the standard of driving was ‘just’ over the threshold to pass the test for dangerous driving, and that the sentence proposed by the Probation Service in the pre-sentence report was suitable for ‘punishment, deterrence and rehabilitation’.

“He is an industrious man, and even when he retired he gained his bus licence and has worked for this company for 10 years, with a glowing reference in his testimonial about the type of individual he is,” Mr Nolan added.

Brennan, of Grasmere Avenue in Orford, was sentenced by magistrates to a 12-month community order.

During this period, he must undertake 100 hours of unpaid work and complete 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

Magistrates banned him from driving for 12 months and ordered him to pass an extended test before driving any vehicle after this time elapses.

Finally, he was told he must pay £85 in court costs and a £114 victim surcharge.