THE driver of a minibus was involved in an accident which had "far reaching and particularly tragic consequences".

Six-month-old Daniel Sheward, of Sycamore Road, Evesham, who was in a Ford Fiesta car driven by his mother Lindsay, died in the accident on the Badsey to Evesham road near the Aldington turning on May 26 last year.

Minibus driver James Wilks, aged 30, of Synehurst, Badsey, pleaded guilty to careless driving and was fined £400, with £55 costs.

His licence was endorsed with six penalty points which took his total to 12 and triggered off a six month ban under the totting up procedure.

Magistrates studied a letter from the family of the baby before reaching their decision, and court chairman Brian Norfolk told Wilks: "Obviously this is a very tragic case and no sentence which we can give can compare with the guilt that you must feel about the death of Daniel, or can help the family come to terms with their loss."

Prosecutor Sally Hill told Evesham magistrates last Thursday that Wilks involvement in the accident had far reaching and tragic consequences. She said the road was very wet as Wilks drove from Badsey towards Evesham that afternoon. Daniel was in a baby seat in his mother's car which was travelling in the opposite direction.

"What appears to have happened is the Wilks was forced to brake because the car in front braked and signalled to turn right," Mrs Hill explained. "As a result he lost control of the vehicle, spun in a clockwise direction into the opposite carriageway and there was an impact which Mrs Showered could not possibly have avoided."

Mrs Hill said she told police: "I didn't have any time to react as it was just so sudden. It was just right there in front of my car. There is no way I could have avoided it."

Wilks' explanation to the police, she said, was that he braked, the back wheels locked and the rear end skidded round. He could not correct the skid and the minibus went down the road sideways with the front in the offside.

After the collision he went to the passenger side of the car and found the baby strapped in the rear facing baby seat.

Kevin Davies, for Wilks, said he was still 100 yards back from the car he was following when he saw its signal and so there was ample time to brake normally and slow down to a halt if necessary, but immediately he skidded as the rear wheels locked.

"He tried desperately to regain control but was not able to do so before the collision occurred," he said. "To this day, even going over it a thousand times in his mind, he can't explain why the vehicle went out of control. There was no fault with the vehicle, he was well within the speed limit and adamant his braking was normal."

Mr Davies said: "The only explanation he can give is that the road surface was very wet and that was a contributory factor. He might have applied the brakes more forcibly than he interned and combined with the wet road surface was the reason why the wheels locked up. He fully accepts the unfortunate Fiesta driver would not have had any opportunity to take avoiding action, and he has not tried to put the blame on anyone else."

Mr Davies told the court that the increased family anguish and distress, caused by a large part of the police investigation being centred on the issue of whether the child seat was correctly fitted, was totally understandable. "This was never at any time raised by Wilks," he stressed. "He has always said it was correctly fitted."