'Wicked' Buxton operator
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THE BUXTON DEATH crash coach operator had been "wickedly negligent", it was alleged last week. He had allowed his coach, which was involved in the accident in which three pensioners lost their lives, to be driven on the road in a "deplorably dangerous condition", said the prosecution.
The operator, William Maye, trading as Maye Hire Coaches, has pleaded not guilty to killing one of the passengers, Walter Warren.
Coach driver George Walker of Atherton, Manchester, pleads not guilty to causing Mr Warren's death by reckless driving.
At Nottingham Crown Court the prosecution alleged that the brakes failed before the coach reached Buxton. It went through one set of lights on red, through a pedestrian crossing, and stopped halfway through a second set of lights which were also on red. Mr Walker bought some brake fluid, topped up the brake cylinders and continued on his voyage, according to the prosecution.
But on the steep hill at Taddington Vale, the coach again lost its brakes, careered down the hill, struck the rear of a private car, left the road and overturned.
Vehicle examiner Ronald McDonald-Hardie read a list of defects which included defective tyres and broken springs and said that there was no sign that the brakes had had any attention at all.
Mr Maye said he had owned the coach for six weeks at the time of the accident and had driven it himself without noticing anything wrong. The case continues.