The Bradford driver of a minibus involved in a hen party death crash on the M62 was already under investigation after wheels fell off one of his own – uninsured – vehicles, the Telegraph & Argus can reveal today.

James Joseph Johnson, 63, of Wyke, has now been disqualified indefinitely for applying or holding a public transport operator’s licence in a case described by North Eastern Traffic Commissioner Kevin Rooney as being “one of the worst I have come across”.

Mr Johnson was driving a hen party to Liverpool when the minibus was involved in a crash with a lorry near junction 32 of the westbound carriageway of the M62 on April 26 this year.

Bethany Jones, 18, of South Elmsall, near Wakefield, died at the scene, and 12 people, including bride-to-be Stefanie Firth, 24, and Mr Johnson, were badly injured.

A public inquiry has now heard that the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) started a probe into Mr Johnson’s own transport operation after a vehicle he was operating lost a nearside rear wheelset in October last year.

VOSA examiner Alan Lodge, who carried out a maintenance investigation, also found that Mr Johnson had no valid insurance for the vehicles he operated.

And the inquiry, which Mr Johnson declined to attend, was told that between him being informed that the probe was to be carried out and it taking place he claimed that much of the relevant documentation, including driver defect reports and tachographs, had been stolen in a burglary at his home for which he failed to provide any supporting evidence, including a police crime number.

Outlining his reasons for disqualifying him from holding an operator’s licence, Mr Rooney said: “Mr Johnson’s operation is one of the worst I have come across. Vehicles are so dangerous that wheels have fallen off.

“There is little documentary evidence of maintenance systems and no evidence to support a contention that relevant documentation has been stolen.

“I find that Mr Johnson has been transporting passengers in vehicles with no valid insurance. There are tachograph issues. Mr Johnson never responded to the vehicle examiner in writing.

“All this happened several months before the fatal collision in which, for sake of absolute clarity, Mr Johnson was not driving a vehicle of his own nor operated under his own operator’s licence.”

The inquiry also heard an allegation that Mr Johnson was allowing another Bradford company to borrow his operator’s licence discs.

In his conclusion, Mr Rooney said: “It is possible that Mr Johnson was lending his discs to Skyway Travel Ltd but the evidence before me is not adequate to support a clear finding of fact on that matter.”

In his report, Mr Rooney also notes that Mr Johnson first came to his attention at a separate public inquiry in December last year when Skyway Travel applied to appoint him as its transport manager but had the application rejected as Mr Johnson “failed to demonstrate adequate competence for that licence in addition to his own”.

Mr Rooney points out that the failings in Mr Johnson’s own transport operation had not been made known to him at that time.

Ahead of the hearing into his own operations, Mr Johnson wrote to the Traffic Commissioner making reference to his involvement in the M62 tragedy.

He stated: “This has left me in no condition to continue driving and apart from my present incapacity I am approaching the time to retire and do not feel that I will ever be fit enough, or have the wish to continue in business.”

A detailed probe into the cause of the crash is being carried out by the Major Collision Enquiry Team at West Yorkshire Police.

Mr Johnson and the driver of the lorry involved remain on police bail having been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.