WINSFORD COACH DRIVER ALLOWED TO CARRY CHILDREN DESPITE SEX ASSAULT CONVICTION
A CONVICTED pervert has been allowed to ferry Winsford children to school after indecently assaulting a woman passenger suffering from Down's Syndrome.Parents in the town have expressed outrage at the bus company's decision to permit 49-year-old Geoffrey Coombes to continue transporting their children to St Nicholas Roman Catholic High School in Hartford despite him escaping a prison sentence last December.
Coombes pleaded guilty to the offence at Northwich Magistrates Court and was ordered to serve 120 hours of community service.
Walkers Coaches disregarded warnings from Cheshire County Council not to use Coombes again on their services.
A local mother, Christine Duckworth, of Tudor Close, questioned why county councillors failed to act to stop Coombes from keeping his job.
She stated: "I've got two sons who go to St Nick's and use the Walkers service and my daughter will be starting at the school in September.
I can't believe this has happened.
Kids are very vulnerable.
This pervert is being protected by the system.
People like that shouldn't be around kids.
Someone has to protect them.
I'm concerned and appalled at this.
Parents need to know these things.
There should be a public register so we know exactly who our children are mixing with.
I think it's all been kept very hushed up.
I rang the school and they gave the impression they didn't know anything about it." A County Council spokesman confirmed that Walkers had been instructed not to use Coombes again after the offence was known.
However, this instruction was not followed, and the driver was used on the service an additional one or two times after completing his community service.
The council emphasized that the driver must not be re-employed on routes under their jurisdiction and reassured concerned parents that this action has been taken.
Walkers Coaches stated that Coombes was only permitted to work for the firm after fulfilling his community service, and that they have assured the council he would not drive on county contracts.
