Bus driver who killed OAP couple in horrific smash will not have his sentence increased

Crown lawyers went to the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh in a bid to have a three year term given to Stephen Jones,58, extended.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how Jones repeatedly drove onto the opposing carriageway and drove too fast for road conditions before failing to negotiate a bend properly and striking an oncoming Vauxhall Corsa.

The driver of the car Ian McKay, 78, and his wife Helen, 79, from Bathgate, died after sustaining multiple injuries.

The couple had been taking their new car for a drive on the B792 road near Torphichen, West Lothian, when Jones’s vehicle collided with them on January 8 2019.

One of the passengers on the bus Jones was driving, 78-year-old Agnes Marshall, suffered serious injury and others were also hurt.

Last month, prosecution lawyer Ashley Edwards QC told appeal judges Lady Dorrian, Lord Pentland and Lord Turnbull that their colleague Lord Doherty hadn’t properly considered the circumstances of the collision.

Ms Edwards said that if Lord Doherty had carried out a proper examination of the facts of the case, he would have given Jones - who has previous convictions for motoring offences - a longer prison sentence.

But the appeal judges concluded that the three year sentence given to Jones was appropriate.

In proceedings at the High Court in Edinburgh last year, Lord Doherty said he took into account that Jones being dazzled by the sun was a contributory factor to the tragedy that unfolded.

But the judge said that it must have been plain there was a risk of being dazzled but he did not moderate his speed.

Lord Doherty also banned Jones from driving for four years and eight months and told him he would have to pass an extended test before driving again.

The judge had previously shown footage from the E.M. Horsburgh bus Jones was driving in the lead up to the crash, including efforts by Mr McKay to avoid the collision as he steered towards the edge of the roadway.

After Jones, of Whitburn, West Lothian, admitted causing the couple's death and injury to others by driving dangerously on the B792 on January 8 2019 it emerged he has previous convictions for speeding and careless driving, had three penalty points on his license.

Mr and Mrs McKay, of Bathgate, in West Lothian, had bought the Corsa the day before the collision and gone for a drive in their new purchase on the fateful day.

Both the bus and the car ended up in a farmer's field following the crash.

At the appeal court hearing last month, defence advocate Shelagh McCall QC told the court that Lord Doherty had applied the correct legal tests when sentencing her client.

After he was jailed, the Evening News revealed that Jones landed a job with First Midland based in Falkirk in March 2019 - two months after killing Mr and Mrs McKay - and left before his references were received.

Jones then got a job with Parcelforce at its depot in Sighthill and told colleagues he was "taking a day off" when he was appearing in court.

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