Coach crash driver jailed

The National Express coach driver who crashed injuring 25 passengers had been drinking until five in the morning on the day of the accident, a court heard today.

Les Weinberg was still intoxicated as he drove from Birmingham to Stansted on the 777 service down the M1 on September 3, Aylesbury Crown Court was told. He mistook a slip road for junction 14 and overturned.

Prosecutor Alan Blake said: "The speed the coach was travelling at was far too fast for the bend.

"Passengers recalled screaming as they realised the bus was not going to be able to negotiate the bend."

He described how the coach then began sliding sideways before it was on two wheels and hitting the raised kerb.

"People recalled the sensation of the coach becoming airborne," he said.

As the coach slammed into the ground most passengers were saved from serious injury by their seatbelts, although several suffered broken limbs.

Tests carried out by police found Weinberg was one-and-a-half times the drink drive limit.

Weinberg, 35, of Meyrick Road, Hill Top, admitted dangerous driving and driving with excess alcohol at an earlier hearing.

Mr Simon Davis, defending, said his client was genuinely remorseful and ashamed of what he had done and that his actions had been out of character.

He said Weinberg "buries himself in drink" to escape personal problems, although stressed he was not an alcoholic.

Judge Christopher Tyrer described the crash as a "terrifying and horrifying accident" and jailed him for 10 months.

"You were in drink, one and a half times over the limit, in your position you shouldn't have been in drink at all. You were driving when you knew you were deprived of rest and sleep."

He was also disqualified from holding a licence for four years and was fined £500 for driving with excess alcohol.