Man fascinated with buses took single decker from Nechells depot

Sep 23 2009 By Ross McCarthy

Mr Parton said he drove along Coventry Road, Small Heath, where he had his first collision with a parked car, a Toyota Yaris.

The driver was just getting out of his vehicle when Simpson collided with his door, narrowly missing the motorist’s hand, and knocking the door completely off.

Mr Parton said at one point Simpson stopped the bus in order to put a front grill back on after it had fallen off.

A little later he scraped the side of a Nissan Almera travelling in the opposite direction.

The driver then pursued the bus, caught it up and caused it to stop by driving in front of it.

When quizzed. Simpson gave him his true name and also his mobile phone number and the driver also took photos of him and the bus.

The Almera driver reported the matter to the police and officers were able to recognise Simpson from the photos the man had taken.

When he was questioned, Simpson admitted he was fascinated by buses and had always wanted to drive one of them.

He accepted causing the damage saying that he was “not looking” when the accidents happened.

Mr Parton said more than £1,000 damage was caused to the Almera although it was not known how much damage had been caused to the other vehicle and the bus.

Ronald Parker, defending, said Simpson, who suffered from Aspergers Syndrome, was not thinking straight at the time but would never do anything like it again.