A Prospect Coaches driver has received a 15 month suspension for driving without due care and attention, following a coach crash which injured five adults and a child, as well as the driver himself.
Robert Blakemore’s coach, carrying 53 people, came off the M5 in Gloucestershire in August 2014.
Witnesses said Mr Blakemore, 60, was driving with his eyes closed and his chin resting on his chest at the time of the crash. He pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention.
No mechanical defect was found with the coach and breath tests indicated he had not been drinking.
Mr Blakemore, who is diabetic, said he ‘did not black out.’ He told the court that he was currently on sick pay and unable to work because of a broken leg he suffered in the accident. He added that losing his licence would mean he would lose his job.
As well as the 15 month ban, Mr Blakemore was fined £165 and ordered to take an extended test.
The coach was operated by Lye, Stourbridge-based Prospect Coaches. It had been taking a group of children from Bright Futures Children’s Centre in Sandwell, West Bromwich to Weston-super-Mare. The coach was one of four travelling to the Somerset resort on the day.
