A YAWNING bus driver whose elderly passenger died after a Huddersfield crash caused by fatigue has failed to convince judges his seven-year jail sentence was too harsh.

Saeed Abbas, 26, was yawning at the wheel seconds before his double-decker bus left the road in Fartown and careered through hedges, roads and a stone wall before ploughing into the side of a garage.

At one point a passenger yelled at Abbas to take evasive action, but “he didn’t seem to register what was happening”, the Appeal Court in London heard yesterday.

There were 44 passengers on the bus and 40 were injured, said Mr Justice Coulson.

One passenger, 82-year-old Albert Rowley, of Brighouse, died of his injuries 19 days later.

He had suffered a devastating blood clot in a lung.

The September, 2006, crash on Bradford Road followed an incident earlier that day in which Abbas, of Marsh Street, Bradford, nearly drove the bus into a bridge parapet near the Stanningley bypass outside Leeds.

On that occasion Abbas was able to avert disaster after ‘compensating’ at the wheel.

The court was told that throughout the day passengers noticed that Abbas was inattentive and intermittently yawning.

He seemed uninterested when passengers handed in their tickets.

Abbas, a married father-of-three, pleaded guilty at Bradford Crown Court last December to causing Mr Rowley's death by dangerous driving. He also admitted two further allegations of careless driving relating to his driving of the bus that morning.

He was given a seven-year jail term on January 8 this year.

Abbas’s case reached the Appeal Court as his lawyers argued the sentence was excessive.

But dismissing the appeal Mr Justice Coulson – sitting with Lord Justice Latham and Mr Justice Irwin – said Abbas had had clear warnings earlier that day that he was suffering from intense fatigue.

The Stanningley incident was a particularly graphic warning, he said, adding:: “It was his failure to recognise that warning sign that gave rise to the tragedy that ensued.’’

The judge went on: “He endangered the safety of the 44 people who had entrusted themselves to his care.

“He must have known he was not fit to drive, but continued to do so.’’