A bus driver who crashed his bus twice in two months had a heroin addiction, it emerged yesterday.

In one accident, William Benjamin Francis was carrying 55 men, women and children on his bus. Amazingly, nobody was hurt. The following month he was involved in a pile-up in Southampton. This time the bus was empty ? only because he became confused about his itinerary.

Magistrates' Court heard yesterday 38-year-old Francis was on drugs while at the wheel in both crashes. He was sentenced to a year in prison.

Acting Magistrate Mark Pettingill said: "This is the worst case of this type that this court has had that has not involved death or serious injury."

He added it was miraculous no one was killed or injured.

And he expressed surprise Francis ? who had previously received a six-year sentence for a drug conviction ? was not suspended after the first offence. After the case, the Public Transportation Board told it would launch drug tests and seek Police background checks before hiring another driver.

PTB director Dan Simmons said the board was not aware Francis had been charged with an offence on May 3 ? the date of the first accident. This explained why Francis was allowed to get into a second smash-up, he added.

Francis, of Bluff Lane, Pembroke admitted two counts of driving his bus while impaired with drugs or alcohol and two counts of driving while having morphine in his body. The court heard that the first accident occurred on North Shore Road in Devonshire. The second was on South Shore Road in Southampton on June 20. The bus was empty because Simmons went to the Fairmont Southampton to pick up the El Salvador football team, who were safe and sound at the Fairmont Hamilton.

In his judgment yesterday, Mr. Pettingill said: "The defendant has pleaded guilty in the eleventh hour for which very little weight was given. And the court finds it astounding he shows so little remorse or contrition for his actions or admission to the problem of his drug use.

"It is nothing short of miraculous in these two separate incidents people were not injured or killed.

"The court is further perplexed he was not suspended as a Government bus driver after his first offence.

"There is the aggravating circumstance the defendant was on licence from prison for drug offences and was driving a Government bus at the time of both offences. The first time crowded with people and in a position of public trust. This must be the type of offence where the legislature intended a maximum penalty," Mr. Pettingill said.

Francis was sentenced to six months imprisonment for the first offence in May. But he was given a further 12 months for the second offence in June. These two sentences are to run at the same time, after Francis finishes the sentence for which he is currently incarcerated.

And Francis was recalled back to prison to finish the last part of his six-year sentence, which is less than a year.

Crown counsel Wayne Caines said "around 7.05 p.m. on Monday May 3, 2004, Police attended the scene of a road traffic collision involving two vehicles outside Mid-Atlantic Boat Club, North Shore Road, Devonshire. On arrival, Police observed that one of the vehicles involved was a PTB bus. Police noted this bus was the same one reported to be recklessly driving earlier on South Road, Southampton.

The driver of the bus was identified as William Francis. After a conversation with Francis, Police observed that he appeared unsteady on his feet, his speech was slurred and his eyes were extremely red. There was no smell of intoxicating liquor on his breath but he appeared to be impaired. Police asked him if he had been drinking or been using any drugs. He replied, "Only this codeine stuff for my cold."

Police arrested Francis on suspicion of driving whilst impaired and cautioned him. He replied, "Okay". A demand was made for him to supply samples of his blood for analysis to which he replied, "Yeah alright".

He was conveyed to Hamilton Police Station where he was documented. He was subsequently conveyed to King Edward VII Memorial where two viols of blood were drawn from Francis by Dr. Samantha Price at 9 a.m. The viols were signed and sealed in Police evidence bag. Francis was conveyed to Hamilton Police Station where he was further detained.

"The evidence bag containing the samples of blood was subsequently taken to the Government Analyst to be examined for the presence of alcohol or controlled drugs. The blood was found to contain 47 nanograms of morphine per millimetre of blood," Mr. Caines said.

Francis continued to deny using heroin (morphine) and said he was on a cold medication that contained codeine. But his story was foiled yesterday, when Government Analyst Christine Quigley said in court that she found "no codeine, but morphine was found. "There was too much morphine to be consistent with the little amount of codeine in Francis' blood."

Mr. Caines said "this was a serious offence and a strong message needed to be sent to the community".

In court yesterday, Francis said "The prosecutor said I show no remorse... but I have got help and have not used drugs since June...I want to say I'm sorry. "

Mr. Simmons told Francis had not been a PTB driver since July.

He said PTB had no idea about the six-year sentence Francis was handed down in 2001 for the importation and possession of crack/cocaine, or that he was fined $250 for stealing from his employer in 2004.

And understands it was after he was fired from his job for stealing that he started working at PTB.

Mr. Simmons said Francis must have lied in his job interview when "there is a serious of questions about previous convictions. (His application) was not filled in correctly ? parts were vacant," he said.

And because of yesterday's conviction, PTB has revised its hiring procedures to include drug testing and Police background checks.

"Anyone who applies will be given a Police background test and can only get their interview after passing a urine-analyst drug test," he said.

"I think it is appropriate that the apology come from the person charged. We make a great effort to protect the public... 20 percent of PTB staff a year are randomly screened for drugs," he said.

"It should never have happened."