Tragedy driver is ‘reprehensible’
60-year-old banned for recklessly driving car
THE DRIVER of a bin lorry which crashed killing six people has been branded “reprehensible” as he was banned from the roads for three years for reckless driving in a separate incident nine months after the tragedy.
Harry Clarke admitted “culpably and recklessly” driving a car in Glasgow on September 20, 2015 to the danger of the public despite his licence having been revoked for medical reasons.
He was given a three-year driving ban, a community payback order with a 12-month supervision requirement and 150 hours’ unpaid work when he appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Friday after pleading guilty last month.
Clarke will also have to wear an electronic tag for four months under a restriction of liberty order which means he cannot leave his home between 7pm and 7am.
Six people died in December 2014 when the refuse lorry lost control in the city centre.
Clarke had admitted driving in September 2015 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.
Sentencing Clarke, Sheriff Martin Jones told the 60-year-old he passed the “custody threshold” but that he was legally prevented from jailing him because he was a first offender.
He said: “You must understand that the decision you made to drive your vehicle on the road, even for a short distance, was one which was wholly irresponsible and reprehensible.
“It was highly culpable and placed the safety of the public at risk. That was a risk which had been fully explained to you and led to the revocation of your driving licence on medical grounds.
“You must have been acutely aware of the possible consequences of you suffering a loss of consciousness while driving following the tragic consequences arising from the incident on December 22, 2014.”
Clarke 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.
The charge stated that he knew or ought to have known that he was unfit to drive, and that there was a risk he might lose consciousness or suffer an episode of altered awareness while driving.
He 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) ruled the crash might have been avoided if Clarke had told the truth about his medical history.
His licence was revoked indefinitely on medical grounds on June 27, 2015.
At the hearing last month, Senior Fiscal Depute Martin Allan told the court neighbours called the police after seeing Clarke driving in Baillieston, Glasgow, on September 20, 2015.
Police went to Clarke’s home on September 22 and he was cautioned and charged.