Bus driver who killed commuter faces sentence

A London bus driver who killed a commuter after putting his foot on the accelerator instead of the brake will learn his fate in November.

Olusola (corr) Popoola, 60, was driving an electric 507 single decker which shunted into the back of a driverless bus that ran over Melissa Burr, 32, outside busy Victoria Station.

Ms Burr, 32, from Rainham, Kent, was crushed in front of two horrified colleagues and later died from her injuries following the collision at around 8.25am on 10 August 2021.

Popoola, a bus driver with 20 years experience, told jurors the bus had lurched forward and he thought there was a mechanical defect when in reality his foot was on the accelerator.

He said: ’The collision occurred because when I released the handbrake the bus started to roll.

‘What came to my mind was how to stop this bus from moving forward, and the only action I had was to use my handbrake to stop it moving forward.

‘I panicked, I was tense, the bus continued to move, all that was on my mind was to use the handbrake to stop it.

‘Because I was tense I didn’t realise that my foot was still on the accelerator. I wasn’t thinking that it was on anything at all.’

Popoola admitted causing death by careless driving but denied and was cleared of the more serious charge of death by dangerous driving following an Old Bailey retrial.

He was also cleared of causing serious injury to another bus driver, Diana Mathuranayagam, by driving dangerously after 10 hours and 55 minutes of jury deliberation.

Judge Rebecca Trowler, KC, ordered reports and will sentence him on 10 November.

Robert Evans, prosecuting, had told the court how Ms Mathuranayagam had entered the parking bay prior to the collision.

Mr Evans said: ‘She stopped her vehicle and put the parking brake on. She then got out of her cab and went to stand by the open door, presumably to wait until it was time to depart.

‘This is shown on CCTV and takes eight to nine seconds. The middle door of the bus was also open and Nicholas Pickover, an off-duty police officer on his way to work, got on at the door in the middle of the bus.

‘The lead bus was stationary, with the parking brake on, and the driver was out of the driving seat when three pedestrians went to cross at the crossing.

‘The first of these was the deceased, Melissa Burr. Behind her were two other people, workmates, Alexander O’Connor and Craig Roomes.

‘Ms Burr entered the bay with the other two pedestrians just behind (she was cutting the corner slightly, so she was closest to the bus) when the parked bus lurched forward. It hit Ms Burr, who was propelled up and forward.

‘The people behind her jumped backwards out of the way. Driver Ms Mathuranayagam was thrown out of the door of the parked bus and onto the pavement.

‘The driverless parked bus did not stop but continued to go forward, running over Ms Burr who ended up under the bus, and very sadly died as a consequence of the multiple injuries she received.’

After the incident Popoola said: ‘I came to the station as I would normally. The bus in front of me moved forward. I then decide to follow suit and move forward so I would be behind the bus in front.

‘In the presence of stopping my foot slipped off the brake and onto the accelerator and I have collided with the bus in front.’

He admitted in court that this account was wrong.

Popoola, who is married with four adult children, had been a bus driver for 20 years, and he had been driving the 507 route for the last 15 years.

He claimed to police that he drove a different bus every day, but they were all identical.

Mr Evans told jurors: ‘The defendant accepts that it was his driving that caused the death of the pedestrian, Melissa Burr, and the serious injury to the other bus driver, Diana Mathuranayagam.

‘He also admits that his driving fell below the standard to be expected of a careful and competent driver – that is to say: he admits causing Ms Burr’s death by driving without due care and attention. However, the prosecution says that he drove dangerously.

‘The prosecution says that the way the defendant drove fell far below what would be expected of a competent and careful driver, and it would be obvious to a competent and careful driver that driving in that way would be dangerous.

‘The prosecution does not say that the defendant drove dangerously deliberately, but his intentions are neither here nor there.

‘He depressed the accelerator pedal with his foot, moving the electric bus forward – driving it forward – and he continued to drive it forward even after his bus had hit the bus in front.

‘He then drove forward for pretty much the whole length of the bus in front, accelerating as he did so, shunting that parked bus, which had its own parking brake on, in a way that was obviously dangerous and which caused both the pedestrian’s death and serious injury to the other driver.

‘Even if the defendant unintentionally pressed the accelerator pedal when he meant to press the brake pedal, that mistake may explain why it is that he drove in the way that he did, but it does not mean that his driving did not fall far below the standard one would expect of a careful and competent driver.’

Popoola, originally from Nigeria, said in the prepared statement that he felt terrible about what had happened, and he asked the police to pass on his condolences.

He said: ‘It is so difficult for me to explain. I do not know what happened. I just wanted to move my bus forward and next thing I know the collision happened. I am sure that I was looking forwards at the point of collision so it is difficult for me to explain any further.’

There had been one previous incident in October 2017 when a passenger walked into Popoola’s bus.

He attended a voluntary police interview for careless driving but no further action was taken.

In a statement released after Ms Burr’s death her family said: ‘We are absolutely devastated by loss and the hole that this incident has left in our lives.

‘Melissa was a kind and thoughtful soul, had a quirky charm with such a bright future ahead of her.’

Popoola, from Peckham, denied causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving but admitted causing death by careless driving.
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