Crash victims still feel the aftershocks

IT took less than 30 seconds for six people to be killed and countless lives affected. When a bin lorry ran out of control on Queen Street on one of the busiest pre-Christmas shopping days it left devastation in its wake.

Erin McQuade, 18, and her grandparents Jack Sweeney, 68, and Lorraine Sweeney, 69, from Dumbarton, were killed.

So too were Stephenie Tait, 29, and Jacqueline Morton, 51, both from Glasgow; and Gillian Ewing, 52, from Edinburgh.

Glasgow could hardly believe another horrific accident had happened so soon after the Clutha helicopter disaster.

Initially word travelled that the driver of the bin lorry had suffered a heart attack at the wheel and there was much sympathy for someone who had caused such a terrible accident through no fault of his own.

Very quickly, however, the city learned that this was far from the case.

During a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) the year after the crash, which happened on December 22, 2014, a court heard how driver Harry Clarke had passed out while driving the Glasgow City Council vehicle.

However, Clarke had suffered a similar incident previously while driving for First Bus yet failed to pass this information on to his new employers.

On the day of the accident, the bin lorry careered along Queen Street, hitting pedestrians, vehicles and pushing a taxi along the road, before coming to a stop at the Millennium Hotel.

Clarke had been employed as a driver for two years when he became a minibus driver for the council before being promoted to an HGV driver.

A ruling by Sheriff John Beckett found that Clake had “deliberately concealed” medical information from the DVLA and given false information on a medical assessment form with the council when he applied for the initial job and when he went for promotion.

In April 2010, while with First Glasgow, he had lost consciousness at the wheel of a bus.

His employers found he could pose a risk to passengers and other people but Glasgow City Council said First Glasgow did not pass this information on.

They said that, if it had, Clarke, 62, would never have been employed as a driver or would have been moved to a non-driving role.

Grieving families sat with dignity through the FAI, listening to this information. Several tried to raise a private prosecution against Harry Clarke but this was not held up by the court.

The Crown did not prosecute Clarke for his actions either.

However, in 2017, Clarke admitted driving a car in Glasgow on September 20, 2015, endangering the public despite his licence having been revoked for medical reasons.

He was given a three-year driving ban, 12-month supervision order and 150 hours’ unpaid work and also had electronic tag.

As well as the emotional aftermath felt by victims, their families and witnesses five years on, legal action is still under way.

This month judge Lord Ericht ruled that First Glasgow did not have a duty of care to families affected by the crash. Now lawyers for Glasgow City Council’s insurers are pursuing the bus firm for negligence.

The family of Stephanie reached a settlement with the council for £903,714.44, and the new court case centres on this.

While the lawyers wrangle with the courts over who owes what party compensation and why, there are families still grieving relatives and victims still feeling the aftershocks of the accident. to wear an