Tragedy that left city in shock

Paying tribute at the time, her daughter Wendy Hancox said: “She will be sadly missed by all and her grandchildren and great-grandchildren will now not have the opportunity to gain memories from getting to know her.”

Wendy said that her mother lost her husband Harry, aged 80, in 2012 and added: “My mum struggled to come to terms with the loss of my dad.

“This tragedy has cut short her life at the time when she was just starting to live again.”

Among the passengers on the bus that afternoon was Rowan, who had been to watch his beloved Coventry City in action with his cousin, Paige, and their uncle and grandad.

He had made his way to the upper deck of the bus with Paige and they had chosen to sit on the front row, which was sadly precisely where the canopy of the supermarket entered the bus in the collision.

The schoolboy was pronounced dead at the scene.

His relatives released a touching tribute a few days after the crash, saying : “Rowan was an adorable, caring person who gave so much love to anyone he met; he was a handsome little boy, whose cheeky smile lit up any room.

“He made life full of laughter with never a dull moment and always kept us going with his cheeky little ways. We love and miss him so much.”

At the seven-year-old’s funeral his classmates from St Anthony’s Catholic Primary School, in Leamington, passed on messages of love.

One friend said: “I really miss you but I will always remember that you are always with me wherever I go.”

Having seen her cousin killed in the seat next to her, Paige Wilson was then trapped in the debris for an hour-and-ahalf and suffered serious injuries.

The trial at Birmingham Crown Court heard that these included a head injury, a “very significant facial injury which has required plastic surgery” and multiple leg fractures.

The jury also heard a heart-wrenching statement from the children’s grandad, John Wilson, who said they had been sharing a “happy” day, capped off by watching Coventry City win 3-0 at the Ricoh Arena.

As they looked to make their way home to Leamington, the family tragically missed the bus they intended to get home and had to wait for the X18 instead.

As he went to sit down further back on the top deck, the bus swerved on to the grass verge in Hales Street and Mr Wilson did his best to get to the children before the bus slammed in to the supermarket.

In his statement, Mr Wilson said: “When I got to them the first thing Paige said was ‘Rowan is dead, grandad.’

“She then said ‘I’m going to die as well grandad.’ I didn’t believe her and looked under the seats to see if there was anything I could do.

“I hoped he wasn’t dead and could see the position he was in and that he had tried to move.”

He tried to lift the window off Paige, “but I thought ‘don’t do that’ as I could make the injuries worse”, he said in his statement read to the court. “I sat with her. It seemed like ages. When emergency services arrived that’s when I left them.”

Also injured was student Aleksei Rodin, who was also on the front seats on the upper deck, and suffered a broken collar bone, broken shoulder and damage to his pelvis.

The jury at Birmingham heard a myriad of evidence throughout the trial regarding precisely what happened while Chander was at the wheel of the double decker bus that afternoon.

It was agreed by all parties that he had his foot placed on the accelerator believing it to be the brake throughout the 12-second journey from the bus stop until colliding with the Trinity Street store.

This is known as foot or pedal placement error.

It was also said that Chander had left the bus in ‘drive’ rather than ‘neutral’ when parked up in Hales Street.

This was backed up by a collision investigator, PC Andrew Salt, who said in evidence that when the bus is in neutral the brake had to be pressed first before the bus can be placed in to drive.

He told the jury that when he analysed CCTV footage from the scene, the brake lights - which were found to be functioning properly - did not come on before the bus pulled away.

It was also said that Chander worked more than 75 hours in two of the four weeks prior to the crash, which is within EU legal limits for driving a professional service vehicle. Barristers appointed by the court to represent Chander’s interests had said that the jury should have found the pensioner to have caused the deaths and injuries by careless driving rather than dangerous driving.

Robert Smith said that Midland Red “caused” Chander to work the long hours he did and “took advantage” of Chander’s “vulnerability” and “overlooked their own decision that he should be used as a last resort”.

Mr Smith said the company simply focused on “getting the buses out” rather than Chander’s ability to work those hours.

“They did so as Mr Chander would never say no. He was a loyal employee who couldn’t say no,” he added.

Speaking of Chander pressing the wrong pedal in the bus, Mr Smith told the jury in his closing speech: “There can be no doubt that fatigue is likely to have contributed.”

It is clear that Midland Red/Stagecoach are ready to be punished for their failings that led to the deaths of two innocent people who were simply out enjoying a Saturday afternoon.

A huge fine looks set to be on it way - there is no upper limit on the amount the judge can rule that the company should pay following its two guilty pleas.

And whatever decision is made by Judge Farrer regarding Chander, the driver has clearly already faced a sentence of his own having told psychiatrists that he has had suicidal thoughts and stated: “There is no future for me.”