A BUS driver who knocked down and killed a great-grandfather after failing to tell his employers and the DVLA about his vision problems has been jailed for 12 months.
It is believed to be the first prison sentence handed out for such omission, since families of the six killed in the 2014 Glasgow bin lorry crash were told by judges in November they could not launch a private prosecution against driver Harry Clarke.
A subsequent fatal accident inquiry heard Clarke (below) had a history of health issues but had not disclosed his medical background to his employers or the DVLA.
It has now emerged that Stephen Thompson, 49, of no fixed abode, received a prison sentence after being told he had shown a "cavalier attitude" to the road by failing to disclose his illness. He had been driving a double-decker bus in the Civic Square in Tilbury, Essex on August, 2015 when he struck pensioner Derek Coleman.
Mr Coleman, 82, from Tilbury, was taken to the Royal London Hospital but died from his injuries.
Thompson failed to disclose to his employers and the DVLA that he was suffering with type 2 diabetes and had problems with his vision.
He admitted causing death by careless driving and one count of fraud by false representation relating to the information that he failed to disclose to his employer between 2010 and 2015, Essex Police said.
On Friday he was jailed for one year and banned from driving for three-and-a-half years at Basildon Crown Court, the force said.
Thompson will have to take an extended driving test before he is allowed to drive again.
Judge John Lodge said Thompson did not see Mr Coleman due to a blind spot on the vehicle and that he ought to have known the view available and the risk of pedestrians.
He said the blind spot was the cause of the accident but his health was an aggravating factor.
After the sentencing, investigating officer Steve Catton, of Essex Police, said Thompson “repeatedly showed disregard for the safety of himself and other road users” by failing to disclose his diabetes and vision problems to his employers.
He said: “Whilst these health issues were not the cause of the collision, they were an aggravating factor and Thompson ignored the requirements placed upon him as a driver. He continued to drive a public bus on a daily basis regardless of his health.
“Tragically his selfish actions resulted in the death of Mr Coleman. I hope Mr Coleman’s family can take some comfort that Thompson is now serving a custodial sentence.
“I would appeal to any other drivers who have medical conditions that they have not disclosed to the DVLA or to their employers to seriously consider the implications of not doing so.
The case comes as Clarke was said to be facing a possible jail sentence after he admitted culpable and reckless driving just nine months after the bin lorry crash tragedy.
Harry Clarke, 60, pleaded guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court earlier this month to driving a car in the city on September 20, 2015 to the danger of the public, despite having lost his licence for medical reasons in the months that followed the Glasgow bin lorry crash.
It was revoked after a fatal accident inquiry into the crash when he blacked out and his refuse lorry careered across George Square.
At Glasgow Sheriff Court he admitted driving a car on 20, September 2015 in the knowledge that he had suffered a loss of consciousness while at the wheel of a moving refuse collection vehicle the previous December.
Clarke was not prosecuted over the bin lorry crash after the Crown Office insisted there was insufficient evidence to raise criminal proceedings.
However, the fatal accident inquiry that followed the crash heard that he had a long history of health issues which he had not disclosed to his employers or the DVLA. A sheriff ruled after the inquiry that the tragedy could have been avoided if he had told the truth.
In a rare legal move, relatives of three members of the same family who died in the bin lorry crash sought permission to bring charges against Clarke in a private prosecution but the move was rejected at the Appeal Court in Edinburgh in November.
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