WE’VE GOT JUSTICE AT LONG LAST
As Harry Clarke faces jail for driving AFTER killing six in bin lorry tragedy, grieving families say:
THE driver of a bin lorry which crashed killing six people is facing jail after admitting he drove without a licence after the tragedy. Harry Clarke, 60, was spotted at the wheel of his car despite knowing his licence had been revoked for medical reasons after the Glasgow crash three days before Christmas 2014.
Families of victims and survivors welcomed his admission of guilt as ‘justice at last’ and called for him to face the stiffest possible penalty.
He pled guilty to a charge of culpably and recklessly driving his Vauxhall Corsa even though he had previously ‘suffered a loss of consciousness when behind the wheel of a moving refuse vehicle resulting in the
deaths of six members of the public and injury to 15 further members of the public’.
Jack Sweeney, 68, his wife Lorraine, 69, and their 18-year-old granddaughter Erin McQuade, all from Dumbarton, were killed when Clarke collapsed at the wheel of his 26-ton refuse truck, which careered out of control.
Gillian Ewing, 52, from Edinburgh, Jacqueline Morton, 51, and 29-yearold Stephenie Tait, both from Glasgow, also tragically lost their lives.
Clarke was not prosecuted over the crash after the Crown Office insisted there was insufficient evidence to raise criminal proceedings, but a sheriff later found the tragedy could have been avoided if Clarke had not ‘deliberately and repeatedly lied’ about his shocking medical history of blackouts.
Hopes that relatives of three crash victims had of raising a rare private prosecution against Clarke were dashed when judges at the Appeal Court in Edinburgh ruled against them in November last year.
Miss Ewing’s father, Sandy Anderson, 87, said: ‘I don’t
‘Telling lies for years’
want just a fine, I’d like to see [Clarke] put behind bars. He’s been telling lies for years. He doesn’t have any remorse.’
His wife, Muriel, 80, added: ‘It’s finally some sort of justice. He’s obviously got no feelings and shown no remorse. We’ve got so many friends who think it’s shocking.
‘I could accept if it was a one-off but he’s a different case. Apart from being a horrible man, I’d like to see him do a year or two in prison. I’d like to see him in jail.’
Survivor Marie Weatherall spent five days in an intensive care unit after Clarke’s lorry hit her left side, breaking her ankle, leg, arm and shoulder.
She said: ‘This is a man who has never obeyed the rules and doesn’t seem to think they even apply to him. It seems extraordinary that he should think it was all right to be driving after the bin lorry crash.
‘So the fact that he has admitted his guilt is some kind of justice. The rules will finally be applied to him. People will be outraged if he doesn’t get a custodial sentence.
‘He may well get a rough time in prison, but if having his liberty taken away from him is the biggest sanction we can give then I’m happy for him to have it.’
A source close to another of the bereaved families added: ‘It is very belated, but we hope some element of justice has now been done.’
At Glasgow Sheriff Court, Clarke admitted driving a car on September 20, 2015, to the danger of the public, despite having had his licence withdrawn on medical grounds.
The court heard how Clarke’s licence was revoked for 12 months on June 27, 2015, following a fatal accident inquiry into the tragedy.
The charge against him stated he knew or ought to have known he was unfit to drive, and there was a risk he might lose consciousness or suffer an episode of altered awareness.
It also noted that ‘on December 22, 2014, you had suffered a loss of consciousness when behind the wheel of a moving refuse vehicle resulting in the deaths of six members of the public and injury to 15 further members of the public’.
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.
Procurator fiscal depute Mark Allan told the court Clarke’s neighbours saw him get into his Corsa in the car park outside his house in Glasgow’s Baillieston. Mr Allan said: ‘Both witnesses saw the accused enter into the driver’s seat, switch on the lights and drive out of the car park.’
The prosecutor said Clarke returned about two hours later at about 10.15pm, adding: ‘He went round to either the passenger door or boot and retrieved some bags before leaving the car and walking to his home address.’
The court heard that suspicious after seeing Clarke in the media, the witnesses contacted the police.
Two days later when Clarke was cautioned and charged by officers, he replied: ‘I have never been out on a public road. I have just moved the car in the private car park.’
The court was also told Clarke later phoned his insurance company and told them his licence was revoked in June ‘on medical grounds’.
In another phone call he claimed: ‘I would have got shot of it if I could have but I would lose £3,000 on it because it’s a new car.’
Sheriff Martin Jones, QC, continued the case for background reports and continued Clarke’s bail.
Clarke made no comment when he left the court.
‘I’d like to see him in jail’