Bus driver in Guyhirn double-death crash 'had fallen asleep at the wheel before', widow tells court

A bus driver who was killed along with a passenger when his double-decker hit a lorry had previously admitted to falling asleep at the wheel, his widow told an inquest.

Driver Michael Elcombe, 45, from Swaffham, died from multiple injuries in the accident, which happened near Wisbech in Cambridgeshire in June 2018.

William Chapman, 76 from Kettering, who was a passenger on the upper deck was also declared dead at the scene.

Coroner Simon Milburn heard evidence from the driver's wife Sonia Elcombe, who said her husband would often stay up late before early shifts and she "truly dreaded" it would lead to a serious accident.

The First Eastern Counties bus collided with a lorry turning right on to the A47 from Bretts Transport yard at Guyhirn at about 7.30am on 26 June.

Mrs Elcombe said her husband had not been up late the night before the crash, but told the inquest he admitted to having once "dozed off" before they knew each other.

She said she had travelled on buses when she suspected he had fallen asleep while driving, adding: "In my heart, I truly dreaded something like this might happen."

Cambridgeshire Police crash investigator Simon Burgin, who compiled a report on the crash, said footage from the camera in the bus suggested Mr Elcombe appeared to be suffering from some form of fatigue.

He said: "The impact and nature of the damage was very significant and had happened at high speed. The bus didn't appear to have done any kind of manoeuvre or slowing down.

"For me, the telling part is when the driver had contact with the steering wheel which became very sloppy, for want of a better word. The next thing you see is his reaction but it's too late.

"You see his facial expression change but it's too late."

Tyrone Mundell-Phipps, who now lives in Somerset, was driving the HGV which pulled out of the yard on to the A47.

On Tuesday, he told the coroner that he stopped at the entrance to let traffic pass. A car coming from his left flashed for him to pull out. 

Looking right he saw a bus about 450 yards away but anticipated it would have plenty of time to slow down to allow him to turn, a common courtesy amongst drivers of large vehicles, he said.

He said: "I recall him having plenty of time to slow down.

"I knew an impact was inevitable and he wasn't going to stop or slow down in any way. The whole thing was no more than a few seconds."

After the impact he left his lorry and got on to the bus where he helped some of the 17 surviving passengers to safety.

The bus was travelling at a consistent speed of 53mph before the impact, and the weather and road conditions were good, the court heard.  

No one was prosecuted following the accident.

Mr Burgin said it was a matter of judgement whether Mr Mundell-Phipps had been correct to assume that the bus would be able to slow down or whether he should have waited until the road was fully clear.

"It's the 'what is reasonable in the circumstances?' test," he said.

The inquest is expected to conclude on Thursday.

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