Family pain
The siblings of a man killed when a bus driver blacked out at the wheel say they are devastated the planned private prosecution of Harry Clarke will not go ahead.
Jim Lochrie was killed on March 31, 2012, when his First Bus colleague David Logue fainted while driving.
The siblings of a man mown down when a bus driver blacked out at the wheel say they are devastated the planned private prosecution of Harry Clarke will not go ahead.
Jim Lochrie was killed on March 31, 2012, when his First Bus colleague David Logue fainted while driving and ploughed his double-decker into a bus stop on Cathcart Road.
Like Glasgow bin lorry driver Harry Clarke and William Payne – who killed two people after fainting at the wheel in 2010 - Logue had earlier lied about his history of black outs to retain his driving licence.
Jim’s brother Archie Lochrie and sisters, Yvonne Lochrie and Caroline Russell, had been advised to await the outcome of the fight to launch a private prosecution against Clarke and Payne before taking any further action.
But on Friday, December 11, judges at the Appeal Court in Edinburgh ruled the private prosecutions could not go ahead.
Speaking to the Reformer just days after what would have been Jim’s 67th birthday, Archie said the bin lorry crash could have set a precedent that paved the way for his family to prosecute David Logue, whom a fatal accident enquiry confirmed was responsible for his brother’s death.
“I knew it would have been hard to bring a private prosecution because it has been 100 years since it last happened,” Archie said, “but we are devastated.
“What happened to my brother is the same as what happened to the other families, those involved in the bin lorry crash and those girls killed on Buchanan Street.
“We were going to go to the courts next, obviously that won’t happen now.”
But he added: “I want people to know that we will never let it go. Jim’s death, as far as we are concerned, just happened yesterday.”
The Reformer reported earlier this year that the Lochrie siblings were buoyed by news that a family devastated in the George Square disaster had been granted legal aid to pursue their own case against Harry Clarke.
Scottish Government ministers agreed on March 9 that legal aid would be provided to the McQuade/Sweeney family and the families of Mhairi Convy and Laura Stewart who were killed when Payne blacked out at the wheel of his Land Rover on Buchanan Street in 2010.
Having sought legal advice within days of that announcement, the Lochrie siblings were waiting to see if judges gave the other families the green light to proceed with their private prosecution.
They pinned their hopes on a private prosecution after the Crown Prosecution Service ruled that all three men – Clarke, Payne and Logue – could not face criminal charges. That is because it would have to be proved they knew they were going to pass out while behind the wheel.
Archie said: “What about all their lies?
“If David Logue told the DVLA about his seizures, my brother would still be here today.”