Bus Firm Ordered To Pay £10,000 For Pensioner Injury

A bus company owned by a major shareholder in Rangers FC has been ordered to pay £10,000 compensation to an elderly customer.

Mary Steel,82, was getting on a McGill's coach from Braehead shopping centre in Glasgow to Dunoon when she fell over and injured her shoulder in May 2013.

The retired shorthand typist, of Dunoon, Argyll, lost her footing when the bus driver suddenly pulled away from the bus stop outside the mall.

Mrs Steel was trying to find a seat on the service at the time she fell.

Paramedics took her to Glasgow's Southern General Hospital for treatment.

Lawyers acting for Mrs Steel took McGill's to the Court of Session in Edinburgh to seek compensation from the Greenock based company.

Solicitors argued that Mrs Steel's injury caused her pain, depression and that she lost interest in her hobby of baking. They argued that the bus driver should have taken greater care and waited until she had sat down.

The firm that they sued is owned by businessman Sandy Easdale and his brother James. Entrepreneur Sandy is the chairman of the Scottish Premiership side and currently holds 5,256,110 shares in the club.

In a written judgement issued by the court on Tuesday, judge Lady Stacey ruled that Mrs Steel was entitled to compensation.

She added: "In my opinion the defender's driver failed to ensure that a passenger who had been seen by him to be elderly and unsteady was seated before moving off.

"In doing so he acted contrary to the defenders' policy and in breach of common law.

"The movement of the bus while the pursuer was not seated caused her to lose her balance and fall.

"I find the defenders liable to the pursuers."