A speeding National Express coach driver was sentenced to five years in prison yesterday for causing a fatal motorway accident in which three people were killed and dozens more were left with serious injuries.

Philip Rooney, 49, was driving at 55mph around the bend on the M25/M4 slip road, 15 miles above the recommended speed limit, and was also giving a safety announcement over the tannoy when he lost control of the coach, hitting a safety barrier and causing the vehicle to turn over.

Three people died after the accident, and many of those that were injured had to be cut from the wreckage.

The accident occurred near Heathrow airport on January 3 last year, and many of those on board the overnight service from London to Aberdeen were heading home after the Christmas break.

The court heard that Mr Rooney had been caught speeding in passenger vehicles five times before the accident, and had also been disciplined by his employer in December 2004 for tampering with a device that limits a coach’s speed.

A passenger on the coach said that Mr Rooney was driving like like he was “possessed”, and the vehicle’s tachograph, which records the vehicle's speed, showed the speed limit had been broken on a number of occasions during the journey.

Christina Toner, 76, from Dundee, and 30-year-old Yi Di Lin, a Chinese national, died following the crash. John Carruthers, 78, from Surrey, died six months later in hospital from his injuries.

One family on board, who had to be cut from the wreckage, suffered multiple injuries; Samia Berbiche, from Albania, lost part of her right leg, her three-year-old son lost part of his right leg and lower left arm, and her eight-month-old daughter lost one of her lower legs.

None of the 69 passengers on board escaped unhurt after the double-decker bus clipped a safety barrier, overturned and skid along its side.

The court heard that Rooney tried to correct the coach’s path after first hitting the barrier but the vehicle overturned after he lost control.

Richard Latham QC, prosecuting, said that Rooney’s driving earlier in the journey had caused luggage to fall from the shelf as the driver tried to make up for their delayed departure.

“A number of passengers noted the vehicle was being driven significantly faster, as if the driver was seeking to make up for lost time,” he said.

One passenger told the court: “After Heathrow the driver drove like he was possessed. He kept overtaking everything and going like the clappers.”

The coach, which left London’s Victoria station at 10.30pm, crashed shortly after leaving Heathrow airport. The court heard that Mr Rooney might have been trying to make up for lost time after problems fitting in all the luggage onto the vehicle caused a delayed departure.

A subsequent investigation found that taking the bend at any speed over 45mph would be dangerous and posed a serious risk to the vehicle becoming unstable and the driver losing control.

Mr Rooney's lawyer said his client was "deeply sorry" for the accident.

The father of three, from South Lanarkshire in Scotland, pleaded guilty to three counts of causing death by dangerous driving. He was also banned from driving for three years at Oxford Crown Court.

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