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Bus driver jailed for death of boy, aged 4

Melvyn Howe
Tuesday 14 October 2003 00:00 BST

A bus driver who ran over a four-year-old boy, killing him instantly, was jailed for two-and-a-half-years yesterday.

Paul Moses, 27, was filmed on CCTV cameras as the double-decker bus he was driving careered across the road, mounted the pavement and plunged through railings, dragging the child on 7 August last year.

Donte Byron was walking in Peckham, south London, with his mother, Samantha Byron, who was seven months pregnant. Ms Byron suffered shock and an injured leg.

After Moses was led from Inner London Crown Court, a friend tried to address the judge. He repeatedly shouted: "Can I ask you a question?"

But the boy's father, Dennis Seeley, an accountant, approached the man saying, "No, you can't."

Mr Seeley said: "It is a weak sentence."

Moses, of Deptford, south London, said he was not to blame for what he called a "mad accident". He claimed a wasp had flown into the cabin of his number 36 bus and distracted him.

But jurors unanimously convicted him of causing death by dangerous driving.

During the week-long trial, Rebecca Harris, for the prosecution, said the four-year-old died because Moses got annoyed with another motorist.

"His aggressive manoeuvring was intended to intimidate or remonstrate with the van driver," she told the jury.

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