A 13-YEAR-OLD boy has told how he and his friend were run over by a bus as they walked home from school in Dunfermline.

Bus driver John Morrison has gone on trial accused of dangerous driving.

One of the boys sustained severe injuries after being trapped under one of the coach’s wheels.

John Morrison, 59, of Marmion Drive, Glenrothes, appeared in the dock at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.

It is alleged that on February 28 last year, in Allan Crescent, Dunfermline, Morrison caused serious injury to a 13-year-old boy by driving a vehicle dangerously, failed to maintain proper observations of the roadway around him and struck both boys, also causing injury to the younger boy. He denies the charge.

The first witness was the younger boy, who was 12 at the time and is now 13.

The boy said he was walking with his friend home from high school when the coach came into a car park next to an after-school club.

Some children got off the bus there to go to the club. Shortly afterwards, the witness said some of his other schoolfriends started “mucking about”.

“They were hitting the windows of the bus,” said the boy. He said that neither he nor the other injured boy were involved in this behaviour.

The witness said that as well as talking to his friend, he was also looking at his mobile phone to view YouTube videos and was not paying attention to the bus until it was too late.

“I saw the bus coming towards us. It was quite close. I just saw it at the last second. We were walking towards the bus. They were still banging on the windows when the bus was moving and maybe that distracted the driver.

“Then the bus hit us,” he added.

He said he had no time to get out of the way, was struck by the coach and went underneath it. He was able to get out from under the bus but then saw his friend.

“He was under the wheel. People phoned for ambulances and stuff. I was just in shock. I stood around for about half an hour,” said the boy.

Depute fiscal Dev Kapadia asked the witness if he was injured. He replied that he had been taken to hospital for a check-up on a bruised back but required no further treatment.

The court was shown dash-cam video which caught the bus arriving in the car park and a young boy running past. This youngster was identified as one of those who would later bang on the side of the bus.

Under cross-examination, the boy again denied he had been involved in striking the coach. He said that after the incident, and with his friend still trapped, another boy had smashed lights of the bus.

The trial, before Sheriff Charles MacNair, will continue on June 25.