THE family of an elderly woman hit and killed by a bus have thanked police, court staff and the 'amazing people of Darlington' at the end of the case into the tragedy. 

Eileen Brennan, 82, died after being hit by the bus on Darlington’s busy Northgate on July 7, 2016.

The bus driver, Michael Gilbert, was so traumatised by the incident that his recollection of that day led him to believe he had been pressing the brakes when he had in fact had his foot on the accelerator.

The Arriva single-decker bus hit Trudy Bowe first, who “miraculously” escaped with minor injuries.

Her daughter, Tracy Naisbitt, was the second shopper to be knocked over by the bus, leaving her trapped underneath the vehicle for an hour.

Ms Naisbitt was able to eventually return to work after dressings were removed from her leg and foot months after the incident, but surgery and skin grafts have left her scarred for life.

Mrs Brennan, who was stood outside the Halifax bank in Northgate at 10.50am that day was the third woman to be struck by the vehicle.

Following a trial at Teesside Crown Court, former bus driver Gilbert was sentenced to 14 months in prison, suspended for 12 months, and banned from driving for three years.

Ahead of a judge stating he believed the 52-year-old man will “live with guilt for the rest of his life”, the court heard how the driver wanted to thank those who helped amid the chaos of the scene of the crash.

His sentiments were echoed by the family of Mrs Brennan, who released a statement to the press following the sentencing hearing. It is published below in full.

FIRST and foremost, we would like to thank Alison Fawcett, without whom we would have been lost. She has been with us every step of the way. At the other end of the phone pretty much 24/7. As far as we are concerned, she went above and beyond her duty. My only wish is that we had met under different circumstances. She is a very special lady.
Harry Simpson and Natalie Horner, we must thank you both as well. Again, you were there every step of the way, keeping us updated, showing compassion and understanding and generally just being fantastic. To the rest of the police team we had dealings with, but whose names we don't know, thank you. You are all brilliant.

The Northern Echo:

The volunteers who looked after us while we were at Teesside Crown Court also deserve a mention. What special people you are, doing what must be a difficult job with such compassion and understanding. I wish I had your names to thank you personally.

We must mention the amazing people of Darlington, so many people who did not even know our mum yet showed such love and support. Natalie Pearson, who held mum's hand until the emergency team arrives, we have no words to thank you enough. Also, all the staff and businesses on Northgate who supported the emergency personnel at the scene. And to the special people who left tributes at the scene, it was heart-warming to see and we will be forever grateful.

The Northern Echo:

We would also like to thank the press who respected our need for privacy during this difficult time. We have never felt able to give an interview and at the end of the day, what could we have said that people didn't know already? We lost our mum, our children lost their granny and our grandchildren lost their GG (she didn't want to be called great granny and she didn't feel old so settled on GG as she said it conjures up an image of someone glamourous). To say we were devastated, is, as I am sure you can imagine, an understatement and no words either at the time or even now would have sufficed.

However, now is the time to look forward. We, the family, hope that Arriva will take note and make some positive changes to their driver training regime. It is all well and good training the drivers to a standard above the recognised Government standards, but if this training is not enforced then it's pretty pointless. We, the family, feel Arriva must accept some responsibility for the events of July 7, 2016. Now is the time to make changes and make bus transport safer for all. It is not just our family who have suffered as a consequence of the accident, Mr Gilbert and his family have had their lives changed forever caused by something, that in our minds was totally preventable. Please take heed, make changes for the better and do not allow something like this to happen again.