 A bus driver who killed a schoolboy while trying to jump a red light to take his break sobbed as he apologised to his victim's family after being jailed. Paul Manu, 63, was driving his empty double-decker back to the depot when he ran over Mario Radulescu, 16, in Northolt, north-west London, at around 8pm on December 17, 2021. He saw the light had turned from green to amber but instead of slowing down, he put his foot down to try and speed through the junction before the other traffic. Mario, who was originally from Romania and studied at St Dominic's Sixth Form College in Harrow-on-the-Hill, was hit when he started walking across as the light turned red. Shocked passers-by tried to hoist the vehicle off the stricken schoolboy after he became trapped underneath, but nothing could be done to save him, and he died at the scene. Last month, Manu, of Ruislip, west London, admitted causing the teenager's death by dangerous driving. He was jailed for two and a half years on Thursday. He sobbed uncontrollably in the dock of the Old Bailey with his hands clasped in prayer as the court heard he cannot close his eyes without seeing visions of the accident. Prosecutor Frederick Hookway told the court Manu was more than five seconds from the crossing when the lights turned amber. He had accelerated to 26mph in the 20mph zone to 'run the lights' and hit Mario 2.4 seconds after they had turned red. Mr Hookway said: 'The defendant was in effect running the lights and he only applied the brakes when Mario was in the road.' The court heard Manu tried to shift the bus off Mario's body and was sobbing hysterically when the police arrived, wailing: 'I hit him. I hit him.' The prosecutor added: 'He fell to the floor jumped up and down on the spot, then attempted to run away from the ambulance, shouting 'I want to die'.' Manu insisted the lights had bee){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
A bus driver who killed a schoolboy while trying to jump a red light to take his break sobbed as he apologised to his victim’s family after being jailed.
Paul Manu, 63, was driving his empty double-decker back to the depot when he ran over Mario Radulescu, 16, in Northolt, north-west London, at around 8pm on December 17, 2021.
He saw the light had turned from green to amber but instead of slowing down, he put his foot down to try and speed through the junction before the other traffic.
Mario, who was originally from Romania and studied at St Dominic’s Sixth Form College in Harrow-on-the-Hill, was hit when he started walking across as the light turned red.