A drunk bus driver who crashed his double-decker into two parked cars in Birmingham has been sacked.
Horrified passengers could only hang on as the Travel West Midlands bus being driven by Raymond Williams swerved and smashed into vehicles in Hallam Street, Balsall Heath, at 10pm on February 21.
Williams, 38, of Dorstone Covert, Druids Heath, pleaded guilty to drink-driving at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court.
He was banned from driving for 18 months, ordered to perform 100 hours’ unpaid work and pay £50 costs.
Colette Orton, prosecuting, said both cars were badly damaged and Williams failed a breath test – recording 52 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath against the legal limit of 35 mcg.
Williams, who was driving the No.35 service from Birmingham city centre to Kings Heath, claimed he had drunk only two pints of beer on the afternoon of the crash.
He was first suspended and later fired by transport firm National Express, which owns Travel West Midlands.
Keith Bright, defending, said Williams “fully understood the potential impact on the passengers who he was driving”.
“He has accepted from the first second that it was the most stupid thing to do,” he added. “He does accept that what he did was ludicrous, both for himself and for those people under his care.
“He won’t be a danger to the public in that capacity again.”
District Judge Robert Djzara told Williams that he had failed in his duty to drive safely for the sake of his passengers.
He said: “The aggravating features about this case are obviously you were driving a bus, putting not just yourself and other road users but your passengers at risk.
“You had a particular responsibility to be sober.”
Williams was offered the chance to complete a course within 12 months to reduce his driving ban to 14 months.
A spokeswoman for National Express said: “The driver was immediately suspended and no longer works for us.”
