Isle of Man: Tribunal awards bus driver £60k after unfair dismissal

The bus crashed into a home on Hillberry Lane at the junction with Highfield Crescent

A bus driver who was sacked after an accident that saw his runaway single-decker crash into a house in Onchan has been awarded £60,000 in compensation.

A tribunal held last year found Robert Corrin was unfairly dismissed by the Department of Infrastructure in 2018.

The sum was awarded by the panel last month after the two parties failed to reach a settlement.

The latest hearing found the Bus Vannin driver was given "inadequate training" and was "not to blame" for the crash.

'Unusually severe'

The first tribunal, held in November last year, heard how in July 2018 the driver used the hold-brake instead of the handbrake to park his empty Citaro bus on a hill on Hillberry Road, in Onchan, so that he could fix a faulty destination indicator at the front of the vehicle.

It was said this was common among Bus Vannin drivers but, when Mr Corrin went to the rear of the bus to turn off the electrical system, it deactivated the hold-brake and caused the vehicle to roll away.

Despite his efforts to get back on board to stop it, it crashed into a property and knocked a parked pickup truck into a garage.

The tribunal found the incident "stemmed from inadequate training" about the use of the hold-brake, and judged that Mr Corrin's sacking for gross misconduct was unfair.

A second panel, which met in October to decide the amount of compensation he was entitled to, said the driver had paid an "unusually severe price, both in terms of losing a job he enjoyed so much, and financially".

It said that, while he was entitled to about £415,000 in lost earnings, benefits, rights and free bus travel, a compensation cap meant the panel could only award £56,000.

The panel awarded that sum, coupled with the basic award of £4,816, taking the total payment to more than £60,000.

The Department of Infrastructure has declined to comment on the ruling.