Glasgow bin lorry crash driver to be sentenced for motoring offence

THE driver of a bin lorry which crashed killing six people is due to be sentenced for culpable and reckless driving on a separate occasion just nine months after the tragedy.

Harry Clarke, 60, admitted driving a car in Glasgow on September 20 2015 to the danger of the public despite his licence having been revoked for medical reasons.

Six people died in December 2014 when the refuse lorry lost control in Glasgow city centre.

Clarke will appear for sentencing at Glasgow Sheriff Court today after pleading guilty to the 2015 offence at a hearing last month.

He admitted driving in the knowledge he had suffered a loss of consciousness while at the wheel of a moving refuse collection vehicle on December 22 2014, resulting in the deaths and leaving 15 more people injured.

He also knew he had suffered a loss of consciousness or episode of altered awareness while at the wheel of a stationary bus on April 7, 2010.

His licence had been revoked for 12 months on June 27, 2015 and the charge states he knew or ought to have known that he was unfit to drive, and there was a risk he might lose consciousness or suffer an episode of altered awareness while driving.

Clarke was not prosecuted over the bin lorry crash, with the Crown Office insisting there was insufficient evidence to raise criminal proceedings.

Jack and Lorraine Sweeney, 68 and 69, and their granddaughter Erin McQuade, 18, Stephenie Tait, 29, Jacqueline Morton, 51, and Gillian Ewing, 52, died in the incident.

A fatal accident inquiry (FAI) heard Mr Clarke had a history of health issues but had not disclosed his medical background to his employers or the DVLA.

Sheriff John Beckett QC, who chaired the FAI, ruled the crash might have been avoided if Clarke had told the truth about his medical history.

In a rare legal move, relatives of three crash victims sought permission from senior judges to bring charges against him in a private prosecution.

However, judges at the Appeal Court in Edinburgh ruled in November last year the family could not launch a private prosecution.

Clarke’s licence was revoked by the DVLA on medical grounds in June 2015 after they became aware of the incident in 2010 in addition to the incident in December 2014.

His licence to drive cars was revoked for 12 months and his licence to drive buses and lorries for 10 years.

Clarke was originally charged with three other road traffic offences relating to insurance and licence matters. However, his not guilty pleas were accepted by the Crown.