THOMAS Roby is a lucky young man. He was fortunate that no one was killed by his act of lunacy when he grabbed the steering wheel of an Oxford Tube coach on the M40 and caused it to crash.

And as he sits in his cell this morning, he should ponder that his sentence of one year – which in effect will be six months at most – is not a considerable lot longer.

It should be.

Roby is unable to explain – apart from the blindingly obvious that he was drunk – why he grabbed the wheel of the coach being driven by Trevor License.

It was undoubtedly a moment of madness on his part, made all the more baffling by the revelation that Mr License had taken pity on him in Oxford by letting him on board when he did not have the full fare.

Let us remember, however, that a lack of serious injury does not make this a trivial incident.

It is only down to the bravery and driving talent of Mr License that lives were not lost – not only on the coach but whatever it might have careered in to.

We have no taste to see Mr Roby spending years in a cell, but six months inside does not properly reflect just how close this was to a major disaster.