Mr Haynes told police he was not aware of Luke outside the vehicle

Luke Tanhai, 13, died of massive head injuries in September 2003 after possibly falling under the bus' wheels.

Colin Haynes, 59, of Gabalfa, said there was nothing he could have done to prevent Luke's death, Cardiff Crown Court was told.

He denies causing death by dangerous driving. The trial continues.

Mr Haynes, who had been a bus driver for 30 years, told police he did not think he could have avoided the incident.

He said: "How was I dangerous? What more could I have done?

Luke had been excluded from school on the day that he died

"What was the boy doing? Whatever it was he should not have been doing it.

"I just didn't see the lad."

Prosecutor Peter Heywood told the jury Mr Haynes had been driving the vehicle dangerously.

"He must have been aware of the presence of all three boys clinging to the outside of the vehicle," he said.

"If he had actually stopped the bus then this could have been avoided."

Last week, a schoolboy told the court that he had urged his 13-year-old friend to jump off the outside of a bus shortly before he came off and died.

The 16-year-old said Luke was smiling as he held on the rail of the double-decker outside Cardiff High School.

The incident happened as pupils were leaving Cardiff High School in the Lakeside area in September 2003.