A SCHOOL bus driver was sacked and taken to court after children were hurt when he suddenly put the brakes on.

Parents told how a girl smashed her face when pupils fell forward on Andrew Gooding’s double decker Yellow Bus travelling through Upton.

In court, magistrates in Bournemouth heard the children were ringing the bell and shouting that he had missed their stop on Palmerston Road when he carried out an emergency stop.

The four children were standing on the upper deck when they were thrown forward and the 28-year-old pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention.

After the court hearing a parent said her son arrived home upset after he was hurt.

She said: “He kept saying mum, mum you won’t believe what happened,” she said.

“They flew forward from the back and were all injured.

“One girl’s face was left all swollen and one boy had a golfball-sized bruise on his forehead.”

Another teenager said the girl had a swollen lip and nose with “a big bump on her head”.

“He slammed on the brakes and I fell forward quickly and hurt my hand.

“Also I reached to grab something and broke someone’s finger.

“All the kids were shouting at the driver.”

Gooding’s driving licence was endorsed with four points for the offence, which happened on February 14 last year but has now been dealt with in court.

He was fined £130 and ordered to pay £300 costs as well as a £15 victim surcharge.

Gooding told the Daily Echo he stopped as per his training.

He said: “The kids were messing about and I could not see upstairs because the periscope mirror was out of position.

“I heard four emergency bells so I hit the brakes but it was not an emergency stop.”

Police confirmed Gooding later reported being assaulted by a 42-year-old man who confronted him about the incident.

Gooding added: “Afterwards I was struggling to go out of the house and still get nervous.”

Gooding said he pleaded guilty to ensure he kept his licence.

He said he needed to remain as a bus driver to prevent him from losing his home in Surrey Road, Poole, “to keep my family off the streets”.

He now works on coach tours with students and has a letter of commendation from a school for a trip with his new employers.

“Yellow Buses sacked me within five days before there was any court case and I was out of work for a month,” he said.

A Yellow Buses spokesman said: “We are pleased that this unfortunate incident has been brought to a satisfactory conclusion.”