School minibus accident: banned killer school bus operator touts for further work

A school bus operator who had been banned from running a transport firm for five years is still operating.

Jason Brewer was the owner of a minibus in which Jasmine Allen, 12, died when the vehicle crashed, near Crumlin, south Wales, in May 2005. He was convicted of using an unlicensed driver and had used unroadworthy vehicles. The BBC's Real Story went undercover and filmed him, but he denies being involved in operating minibuses.

Jasmine Allen, 12, from Hafodyrynys, died when the vehicle owned by Brewer crashed into an oncoming car and flipped onto its roof. She and the other pupils on board the vehicle were en route to Newbridge Comprehensive School. None were wearing seat belts. The driver was found guilty of careless driving and was banned from driving for six months and fined £250.

Brewer, 36, of Hengoed, was fined £1,100 after admitting causing the driver to drive without a suitable licence and insurance. Magistrates in Blackwood heard that Brewer was aware that his driver did not have the correct licence for driving a public vehicle, but asked him to drive the minibus on the day of the fatal crash because his usual driver was unavailable. Brewer was disqualified from driving for six months.

In January 2006, he chose not to attend a disciplinary public inquiry by transport commissioners to consider the future of his operator's licence. That hearing revoked his operator's licence and disqualified Brewer from holding or obtaining an operator's licence for a period of five years. But after a tip-off that he was still operating, Real Story reporter Morland Sanders met him posing as a client.

Brewer told Sanders: "The kids have gone back to school today. I've got a couple of contracts with the kids, so been busy." When asked about insurance, Brewer replied that the cost of it had gone up. He said: "Everyone's claiming these days. They fall off your bus, they close their hands in door, they sue you for everything."

Brewer denies being involved in operating minibuses. He claims he made untrue statements in order to win the contract for his former wife who holds an operator's licence. He apologised for the part he played in the accident which led to Jasmine's death

Real Story showed the secret footage of Jason Brewer to Jasmine Allen's mother Anne. She told the programme: "I'm feeling sick. I'm really feeling sick. He's still driving other children as well. It's wrong. He's ruined my life. He's got to be stopped, this can't go on."

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