Midlands death coach pair jailed

Nov 14 2009 by Paul Fulford, Birmingham Mail

The coach’s brakes failed as Oughton began the descent and he made frantic attempts to stop the vehicle. The bus sped through a red traffic light on the A64 at the bottom of the hill, crashing into Mr and Mrs Clements’ car.

Mr Mansell said Lote and Oughton failed to put the vehicle in for its six-weekly checks twice in the months before the crash.

Lawyers for Outon and Lote said they were both decent, hard-working men.

Simon Reevell, for Oughton, said: “No one in their right mind sitting at the front of a metal tube, behind a large piece of glass, would embark on a journey down that hill in its entirety knowing there were problems.”