PROSECUTORS have been blamed for wrongly charging a man with dangerous driving and leaving him haunted by fears he would be jobless.

Judge Peter Ross yesterday criticised the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for accusing David Ryan of deliberately running a red light and injuring two motorcycle riders more than two years ago.

The Stagecoach driver denied two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving at his trial but admitted to officers during interview he was driving his double-decker bus without due care and attention.

Judge Ross claimed it was ‘ludicrous’ the CPS believed Ryan’s driving was unsafe enough to land him in prison for more than 12 months and with an automatic driving ban, telling the court it ‘fell a long way short’ of being deemed dangerous.

Prosecutors should have persisted with a lesser charge of careless driving, dealt with by magistrates, he proclaimed.

Speaking moments after Ryan was acquitted of dangerous driving, the judge said: “Not only, in my view, should this not have been charged as dangerous driving, the Crown should have accepted the plea that was offered.

“[This] should not have been a matter that troubled this court. I can’t ignore the fact that the choice of dangerous driving had meant that the best part of two-and-a-significant bit of years passed with this hanging over the defendant’s head with the expectation, with the certainty, that if convicted he would have lost his job and that seems to me a powerful piece of mitigation.

“From the moment you were interviewed by the police, you accepted that you had made a misjudgement and it was clear to me listening to the way in which you gave your evidence that this accident has of course had a big impact on you.”

The judge fined Ryan £250 and endorsed his driving licence with three points after jurors acquitted him of dangerous driving but instead convicted him of careless driving. 

A Thames and Chiltern CPS spokesperson said: “When this case was reviewed under the Code for Crown Prosecutors, we were satisfied that there was sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and it was in the public interest to prosecute.

“The Crown’s case was based on the high quality CCTV.  It showed the defendant drive his bus, with passengers on board, through a red light without making any attempt to slow down or stop and colliding with a motorcycle, which was clearly visible. 

"Both the motorcycle rider and pillion passenger were seriously injured.

“The issue of whether the defendant’s driving was dangerous, as opposed to careless, was a matter properly to be left for a jury to decide. 

"The case went for a full trial and resulted in a jury acquittal for the two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.  We respect the decision of the jury.”

Ryan took the stand during his trial to refute allegations he was driving dangerously when he failed to stop at traffic lights before turning into Water Eaton Park and Ride.

Giving evidence yesterday, the 36-year-old said he was driving his last route of the day and planned to return to the bus depot after arriving at his final stop in Kidlington.

Ryan, who still drives along the same route for the bus company, said he was in the left lane as he approached the junction, pulling into the right lane after checking his mirrors and indicating.

The traffic lights in Banbury Road were green as he manoeuvred into the lane, Ryan told the court.

He revealed he did not spot the lights as they changed to amber but began to slow down, braking as he came closer to the lights.

Ryan, who has been a bus driver for about 13 years, said he did not see the lights change to red and turned into the park and ride before the collision.

He added: “I had a decision to make. It all happened so fast. [After the collision] I could not take in what had just happened because I was not expecting it.”

Harley Davidson rider Rick Gumbert and his passenger Sandra Arnold were left with fractured spines after ‘flying’ from the bike when the vehicles collided at about 8.30pm on July 4, 2014.

Prosecutor Richard Moss alleged Ryan, of Hanborough Close, Eynsham, failed to anticipate the traffic lights would change or brake appropriately.