OSEI: KILLER DRIVER THOUGHT THE BRAKE WAS THE ACCELERATOR

A woman bus driver who killed a pedestrian when she mistook the accelerator for the brake has walked free from court.

Doris Osei, 44, took a corner rapidly, mounted the pavement, hit a lamp post, and rammed Ministry of Defence worker Newell Lewis, 65, against park railings.

The driver was so out of control that the red single decker continued for 50 metres before it stopped on Albany Road, Camberwell, southeast London.

Osei had recieved just 30 minutes driving training in the new vehicle.

The accident took place at the junction with Thurlow Street, at around 10.30am on January 30, Blackfriars Crown Court heard.

Jonathan Polnay, said Osei had ‘accelerated unintentionally.’

‘This is coloquially known as pedal confusion, where the driver intends to apply the brakes and unintentially applies the accelerator.’

Fatally injuried Mr Lewis was left twisted in the mangled railings of Burgess Park.

A trainee doctor who had been one of a handful of passengers on the bus, got out to comfort the still conscious grandfather.

Osei rang 999 from the cab of her number 42 bus, but did not immediately realise she had hit Mr Lewis.

She was ‘totally distraught’ when she saw what had happened.

The victim received emergency surgery at nearby Kings College Hospital but was pronounced dead the following morning, on January 31.

Investigations revealed Osei was given just half an hour practical driving training on the unfamiliar bus by employer Go Ahead.

She had been a professional driver for nearly a decade and a bus driver for one year, but had only been introduced to the new model two days before the tragedy, the court heard.

Mr Lewis’ family understand Osei confessed ‘she did not feel confident driving the vehicle but drove it anyway, fearing she would be reprimanded’, the court heard.

Fayza Benlamkadem, defending, said: ‘She travelled too fast around that corner, in a bus she wasn’t used to driving, and unfortunately took the life of another person.

‘She has very little recollection of the events.

‘That is provably due to the post traumatic stress she has bene suffering with.

‘She states she can never forgive herself.

‘The practical training was between 14:45 and 15:15.

‘The other time was spent in the cab watching other drivers.

‘She was not experienced on that bend and all the experts say it is a very sharp turn.’

The victim’s daughter Zena Lewis said in a statement the family are trying not to feel anger towards Osei.

Ms Lewis said: ‘I feel the bus company, alongside Ms Osei, are liable for my father’s death.

‘The bus company have a duty to vet and train all employees.

‘On 28 January she was deemed competent after practical training.

‘On 30 January, approximately three to five minutes into her first shift she managed to cause my father’s death.’

Ms Lewis, who was eight-months’ pregnant when her father died, paid tribute to the Jamaican-born ‘rock’, who prior to joining the Ministry of Defence in 2000, spent 31 years with Royal Mail.

She described him as a ‘very loving, caring, gentle man’ with high standards in every area of his life.

Mr Lewis was about to retire on his 66th birthday a month later and she said: ‘My father worked so hard all his life.

‘He was robbed of the well-earned rest of his retirement.

‘He was strong and healthy, and would walk rather than drive.

‘The effects of losing my father, a grandfather, a brother and uncle, is devastating.

‘The children in the family have been deprived of their family rock.

‘His worldly knowledge both economically and culturally, and his principles are irreplaceable.’

The court heard Osei gave birth to her first child this February after being told conception was ‘virtually impossible’.

Judge Aidan Marron QC handed her 12 months in jail suspended for two years, and ordered her to complete 150 hours’ unpaid work after describing the case as an ‘absolute tragedy’.

He said: ‘Everthing I’ve read and heard about Mr Lewis confirms that he was a very fine man, very much admired and respected.

‘I suspect his death is perhaps more than his family can take.’

Turning to Osei, who lives seconds from the scene and has developed agoraphobia, the judge said: ‘This case is also I accept enormously painful for you..

‘A respectable, hard working woman, standing in the dock at Crown court, acknowledging responsibility for the death of that man.

‘I accept without hesitation that you weren’t familiar with that vehicle and I accept you weren’t familiar with the route.

‘There was a factor of speed in this untimely death and it is my conclusion that it was your lack of familiarity that is at the bottom of the acceleration.

‘A prison sentence is absolutely inevitable but the question is whether that can be suspended.

‘I  look at you as a woman who is consumed with regret and guilt, suffering from post traumatic stress as a result of that guilt.

‘You are unemployed, your relationship has broken down.

‘Most significant in my decision to suspend the sentence is the child.’

Judge Marron also handed Osei a two-year driving ban, and said she will have to take an extended test before she can drive again.

She sobbed as she left the courtroom, supported by two friends.

Osei, of (Flat 210) Missenden, Inville Road, Camberwell admitted causing death by careless driving.

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