09/12/2009

Croydon Bus Death Driver Found Guilty

A bus driver involved in a crash that killed one person and left six others injured has been convicted in his absence.

Raouf Mraidi, 30, of south London, did not turn up to the trial after his double decker bus hit a tram, then a parked BMW in Croydon, in 2008.

During the five day hearing at Croydon Crown Court, the jury heard how passenger Andrzej Tadeusz Karcz, 28, died and six others were taken to hospital.

The jury where unaware that a search had been going on for Mraidi.

The bus driver was sentenced to four years for causing death by dangerous driving.

PC Ian Payne, of the Collision Investigation Unit, expressed his condolences to Mr Karcz's wife and family.

He said: "Mraidi failed to attend his trial at Croydon Crown Court and enquiries continue so we can bring him before the courts."

(GK/KMcA)




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