Damages actions in bin lorry case can go ahead
A JUDGE has ruled that damages actions brought by relatives of some of those killed in the Glasgow bin lorry tragedy can proceed despite a failure in the legal process.
Lord Doherty said they would be “very materially prejudiced” if he refused to exercise his power to allow the claims against Glasgow City Council to proceed.
The judge said: “The probable consequences would be very significant upset for the pursuers and material delay in obtaining reparation.”
“That upset and delay would be likely to have significant detrimental effects on the pursuers’ mental health,” he said.
The eight relatives brought the action for compensation against the local authority after the bin lorry driven by Harry Clarke left the road in Glasgow city centre on December 22 in 2014 and travelled along pavements before coming to a halt near Queen Street Station.
Jacqueline Morton, 51, and Stephenie Tait, 29, from Glasgow, Erin McQuade ,18, and her grandparents Jack Sweeney, 68, and his 69-yearold wife Lorraine, from Dumbarton and Gillian Ewing, 52, all died.
Others were also injured in the tragedy.
The Crown decided not to prosecute Clarke and efforts by relatives to bring a private prosecution were refused.
The eight were granted an order at the Court of Session in Edinburgh preventing publication of details leading to their identification.
One has a guardian and in another case an executor of a relative who died after the incident is suing.
The relatives raised an action against the local authority in December last year but it fell after the summons was not called within three months and a day of it passing the signet.
A further action was raised in June this year and the local authority’s insurer’s legal representative maintained that the present claims were now time barred.
Lawyers acting for the relatives argued that the court should exercise its powers to allow it to proceed.