BIN DEATH DRIVER’S PREVIOUS BLACKOUT AT WHEEL
Tragic driver slumped unconscious while in control of a bus, shocked crash probe told
THE driver of a runaway bin lorry that mounted a pavement and killed six people had previously ‘blacked out’ at the wheel of a bus. Harry Clarke was driving the truck when it careered out of control along a street packed with Christmas s hoppers i n Glasgow city centre on December 22 last year.
A fatal accident inquiry has heard that Jack and Lorraine Sweeney, Erin McQuade, Jacqueline Morton, Gillian Ewing and Stephenie Tait all died instantly and ten others were injured after Mr Clarke slumped unconscious while driving his lorry along Queen Street.
Yesterday, in a dramatic twist, a bus inspector told Glasgow Sheriff Court Mr Clarke collapsed five years ago while driving a bus along the city’s
Paisley Road West. John Stewart, an inspector with First Bus, said he was approached by a passenger at a bus stop around 9.40am on April 7, 2010, to tell him the driver of a number 54 bus had fallen ill further along Paisley Road West.
After reporting the incident to managers, the inspector said he was a ‘bit surprised’ when he saw Mr Clarke pull up in the number 54 bus six minutes later at the stop where he happened to be waiting.
Mr Stewart, 49, told the inquiry that after Mr Clarke confirmed to him he had earlier ‘blacked out for a few minutes’, he informed the driver he could not carry on with his shift.
Minutes later, while they were still in conversation, Mr Clarke became ill again and Mr Stewart immediately dialled 999. Paramedics attended and after Mr Clarke was given the ‘all- clear’ Mr Stewart said he refused to take an ambulance to hospital and was taken instead by bus to the depot.
The court heard that Mr Stewart had recorded the incident in his daily report to managers, writing: ‘Driver H Clarke taken unwell, blacked out for a couple of minutes.’
Reading from his notes, he said: ‘The driver is checked out and given the all- clear by paramedics, driver refused to travel to hospital.’
The witness said another driver was sent to collect the bus from Paisley Road West and took it, and Mr Clarke, back to the depot in Parkhead in the city’s East End.
Under cross examination by Dorothy Bain, QC, who represents the family of Jacqueline Morton, he agreed that Mr Clarke blacked out then ‘decided to drive the bus’.
The QC put to the witness: ‘He shouldn’t have done that.’
Mr Stewart replied: ‘He should have used his common sense and waited for help.’
The inspector added that Mr Clarke could have radioed in to tell the depot he had fallen ill and that it was unsafe for him to drive.
The witness agreed that Mr Clarke did not do that and could not have known that Mr Stewart would be at the bus stop where he stopped the bus after the incident.
When Mr Clarke fell ill a second time, Miss Bain put it to the witness: ‘So concerned were you about how he was at that stage you had to contact an ambulance?’ Mr Stewart replied: ‘Yes.’
He said he was unsure what happened next, adding: ‘I took it he was
‘Refused to travel
to hospital’
The driver should have used his common sense and waited John’for help to arrive
Stewart
sent to the company doctor. It’s the first time I had dealt with someone taking ill.’
A letter from the First Bus doctor, Dr Lyons, to a Dr McGlone and dated the day after the incident was shown to the inquiry.
It said Mr Clarke was a bus driver who had been ‘off driving duties since the previous day following an episode of loss of, or impaired, consciousness while on a stationary bus’.
It also detailed that after being looked at by paramedics he had been diagnosed with a ‘vasovagal attack’ and requested a medical report from the doctor. However, Dr Lyons also stated that it was his understanding that Mr Clarke was not required to report the incident to the DVLA.
Miss Bain asked the witness if he knew that Mr Clarke told a doctor he passed out for the third time later the same day in the canteen at the company’s Parkhead depot. Mr Stewart said: ‘No’.
The inspector said he also did not know if Mr Clarke had been suspended from driving following his collapse. After the incident, the inquiry heard Mr Clarke had to attend three medical appointments in order to assess his health.
Earlier, the inquiry heard from Alan Kernaghan, who was acting assistant supervisor at the Shieldhall bin lorry depot on the day of the fatal crash.
He told the court he checked the drivers every morning to see if they were fit to drive, but said he was mainly looking for signs of drinking rather than ill health.
Mr Kernaghan admitted he had received ‘no formal training’ in how to check drivers, but he said he would have a ‘chat’ with drivers each day before handing them their keys.
Mr Kernaghan added: ‘We give them a visual check to make sure they look okay – make sure they’re steady on their feet and not got glazed eyes.
‘If they look their normal selves, that’s good enough for me.’
He said he had seen Mr Clarke, who he called a ‘lovely old guy’, that morning and assessed him as fit, saying he was ‘just his normal, happy self ’.
Mr Kernaghan was also asked what formal procedures were in place for drivers if they felt unwell or developed a health problem. He said in the first instance he would go to his doctor then contact the DVLA for advice on whether or not he was safe to drive.
He added: ‘You have to get in touch with them, it’s the right thing to do.’
But he admitted he could not speak for everyone else when asked if other drivers would be tempted not to report health problems in case it risked their job.
Under cross-examination, he agreed with Miss Bain’s suggestion that, as a professional driver in charge of a ‘big heavy vehicle’, it was even more important to be aware of health problems and to ‘pick up the phone to contact the DVLA’ with any concerns.
Miss Bain said: ‘And that would be
the right thing to do, not only for you but for the people who walk the streets of Glasgow?’ ‘Yes,’ replied Mr Kernaghan. He said he understood that Mr Clarke was back at work again but had been given a role inside the bin lorry depot and no longer worked on the lorries.
Ronald Conway, the lawyer for Miss Tait’s family, asked: ‘We may hear evidence that Mr Clarke’s driving licence for group one and also group two, which is an LGV licence, was restored to him in April 2015. Do you know about that?’
Mr Kernaghan, 37, who also works as a bin lorry driver, said that he was not aware of that, or how Mr Clarke got to work from April this year. He added there had been no changes in the risk assessment information given to crews since the incident in December and no discussion about the i ncident among bin lorry crews that he could remember.
Also giving evidence was Ian Quigley, a fellow bin lorry driver who ate lunch with Mr Clarke at the Shieldhall depot on December 22 at their regular time between 11.1511.45am. He said he clearly recalled Mr Clarke had a ‘Pot Noodle, a packet of crisps and a biscuit’.
Mr Quigley, 46, said: ‘He said nothing about feeling unwell that lunchtime,’ adding he was not aware of him ever suffering dizzy spells.
When news of the tragedy filtered through later that day, Mr Quigley admitted news of the crash as well as the identity of the driver involved came as a ‘shock’.
He said there was no official training in what to do if someone fell ill in the cab, either before or after December 22. He added: ‘You use common sense. I don’t think information is given to crew about what to do.’
Asked whether it would be sensible to teach crew members how to use the handbrake in an emergency, Mr Quigley said he was not convinced. He added: ‘It could cause the brakes to lock on and put it into a skid.
‘I wouldn’t fancy putting a handbrake on at that speed. I don’t know if it would stop it. It would definitely slow it.’
University student Miss McQuade, 18, and her grandparents Jack Sweeney, 68, and Lorraine Sweeney, 69, from Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire, died from multiple injuries after being hit by the truck, along with schoolteacher Miss Tait, 29, tax official Miss Morton, 51, both from Glasgow, and Mrs Ewing, a 52year-old events co-ordinator from Edinburgh.
The Crown Office ordered a fatal accident inquiry into the crash after prosecutors ruled there was no evidence to warrant criminal proceedings.
The inquiry, which is expected to run for four to six weeks, will exami ne Mr Clarke’s medical background, employment record and training.
The hearing will also look at technical aspects of the vehicle and whether or not any measures could have brought it to a controlled stop.
The safety of the route taken by the vehicle given the time of day and year will also be investigated.
The inquiry before Sheriff John Beckett, QC, continues.
‘Could cause brakes
to lock on’