A bus driver was forced to crash his bus after he ignored warning signs the braking system had failed, leading to a schoolgirl being seriously injured.
Mark Granby, 59, was today sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court after pleading guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
The incident occurred on the morning of September 23, 2016, when Granby was at the wheel of a Huyton Travel Ltd (HTL) bus, in Woolton High Street.
A mechanical fault occurred with the brakes - signalled by warning lights and an alarm - but after carrying out a visual inspection of the exterior of the vehicle, the court heard Granby continued driving the number 226 bus service.
However, when he attempted to brake and the vehicle didn't stop, Granby swerved the bus on to the pavement to avoid a collision with the vehicle in front and smashed into a large metal bollard .
The five to six passengers on board were thrown on to the floor, with one - a schoolgirl aged 13 - suffering a broken shin bone. Another child was taken to hospital by ambulance with an injury to her shoulder.
Peter Killen, prosecuting, said: "He accepts as a professional driver he should have reacted to the warning alarms and gauges. The advice to drivers when there is a mechanical issue is to pull over and call the depot."
In a victim impact statement, the court heard the injured schoolgirl was off school for a week and was also in plaster and on crutches while the fracture healed.
"She was upset by the crash and missed a school trip to France," said Mr Killen.
"Her parents also had to pay for taxis to get her to school for two months."
As a result of the incident, Granby, of Kendal Road, Tower Hill, Kirkby , lost his job as a bus driver.
Martine Snowdon, defending, said that being disqualified from driving meant he would have to travel from Kirkby to his work in Warrington by public transport.
Judge Stuart Driver QC told Granby: "What makes this a serious case is not merely what happened, but what might have happened.
"When warning lights and sounds came on, you made the decision to continue driving the bus, when your training and common sense should have told you that the right thing to do was to pull over and stop.
"To avoid a collision you steered the bus on to the pavement and on to a bollard. This amounted to a very dangerous situation to pedestrians, other drivers, and to your passengers."
Judge Driver said a prison sentence was necessary to reflect "the high level of danger" in this case. However because of Granby's previous good character and the length of time it had taken for the case to conclude, the judge suspended the six-month sentence for 12 months.
Granby was also disqualified from driving for two years, after which he will have to take an extended re-test.
