DISGRACED coach driver David Read drove disabled school children around Dorset after failing to tell his new employers about a serious crash.

Read, who was behind the wheel of a National Express coach when it ploughed into a police car, secured a job with Paragon Travel just weeks after the 3am smash on the Spur Road.

He didn't mention to Paragon boss Vic Hall that he was the coach driver involved and was taken on to drive minibuses in various situations, including providing school transport, said Mr Hall.

Mr Hall told the Daily Echo: "He had six penalty points at the time, which is acceptable to our insurers and to Dorset County Council.

"We make new checks with the DVLA every two-and-a-half months and when we checked again in July we discovered his points had gone up to nine so we let him go.

"I thought he was an accident waiting to happen and even when I told him so he still didn't mention the coach crash. The first we knew about it was when we saw the story in the Echo."

Mr Hall stressed the importance of regular checks on drivers and added: "Passengers expect to be safe and assume that checks have been made."

Mr Hall said Read had previously been employed by Paragon for around a year up to June 2014, then left to join Bournemouth-based Excelsior.

A spokeswoman for National Express confirmed Read was employed by Excelsior but was driving for National Express at the time of the Spur Road crash.

On Monday Read, 38, of Branksome Wood Road, Bournemouth appeared before Bournemouth magistrates for sentence after being convicted of dangerous driving.

The court heard he was driving a coach on February 2 when it smashed into the back of a police car, which contained police dog Acer at the time.

There were 11 passengers on the coach, six of whom suffered whiplash, one bruising and one shock.

He was given a 12-month community order, to include 250 hours unpaid work, and ordered to pay £620 costs and a £60 victim surcharge. He was also banned from driving for 12 months, after which he will have to take an extended driving test before he can drive again.

The National Express spokeswoman said Read drove for the company through third-party operator Excelsior for four months in total and was immediately removed from the National Express network following the incident with the police car.

"When he commenced driving for us he had three points on his licence" she said. "We would not use any driver who had accrued more than six points on their licence within 36 months and this is well below the legal threshold for disqualification."

No one was available to comment at Excelsior. 

A Dorset County Council spokesman said: "We can confirm that, from October 2013 to June 2014, David Read drove for a contractor which operated school transport routes for Dorset County Council. We are carrying out an investigation into this and are talking to the bus company involved to establish all the facts."