TWO Drumchapel men accused of breaking the law after a hen party reveller fell out of their minibus and landed on a busy road were cleared of all wrongdoing last week.

Jennifer Keegan was left seriously injured after tumbling out of Stan’s Party Bus which was owned by John Hardie and being driven by bus driver Michael Gilfillan.

The nurse was part of the hen party celebrating the then-upcoming wedding of Rebecca Glancy, now Boyce, in April last year, on board Mr Hardie’s bus as he and Mr Gilfillan took them from the Renfrewshire town of Elderslie to Glasgow.

She fell out of the bus as it travelled through Linwood and had to be rushed to hospital after landing in the middle of the road, stopping traffic and leaving her severely injured.

The details emerged when Mr Gilfillan, 49, and Mr Hardie, 54, went on trial at Paisley Sheriff Court last week charged with culpable and reckless conduct.

The denied allowing the women “to stand and dance in the aisles of the mini bus whilst it was in motion and they were under the influence of alcohol” leading to Ms Keegan suffering “severe injury” when she “fell against the side door causing her to fall to the ground whilst the mini bus was in motion.”

MS Keegan, 37, was signed off her job for eight weeks with back pain after the accident and was left with a black eye, cuts to her face and severe bruising to her arms and legs.

Giving evidence about the incident, which happened in Linwood after the bus had just left the Linwood Farm carvery, she said: “I didn’t know what had happened.

“When I woke up, I was lying down on the ground on my back.

“My shoes were away up here and I was away down there - I felt terrible.

“My whole body was in agony and my head was throbbing.

“The next thing I knew, the ambulance was there.

“They bandaged my head up and I got stitches to my head.”

Rachel Wilson, 37, said she was the one who changed the song that was being played in the bus to Bits N Pieces.

And she said she felt responsible for Ms Keegan’s injuries as a result of her taking over the DJ.

She explained: “I didn’t like the song so I went down to the front [of the minibus] and put on Bits N Pieces and that’s when everyone got up.

“It was a good song so everyone got up to dance.

“She fell out to that song – I felt responsible.”

“I thought at the time, ‘if I didn’t put that song on, maybe everyone wouldn’t have been up dancing’.”

Linda Boyce, who was on the hen do as her son was getting married to Rebecca Glancy, also gave evidence, telling the court she was sitting down and saw Keegan “rolling backwards” out the side door of the mini bus before crashing on to the ground.

The 51-year-old said it looked like the side door was made of “tissue paper” as there was so little resistance when Keegan fell against it and fell out of the vehicle.

Defence solicitor Ronnie Simpson, representing Mr Gilfillan, and Steven Farmer, acting for Mr Hardie, argued the men had no case to answer as the women had been told to sit down and signs displayed in the bus said they should not stand.

The accused maintained their innocence and returned to the dock last week when Sheriff Tom McCartney ruled the men did not have a case to answer – leading to them being acquitted.

Steven Farmer, of Specialist Road Traffic lawyers Roadtrafficlaw.com, said afterwards: “I am pleased that the sheriff in this case agreed with my submission of no case to answer.

“While I sympathise with Ms Keegan, culpable and reckless conduct is a very serious charge and can carry custodial sentences.

“Ms Keegan may have fallen from the bus but my client faced being thrown under the bus as a result of this egregious prosecution.”