Bin lorry driver Clarke faces motoring-related charges

The driver of the bin lorry that careered into and killed six people days before Christmas in 2014 has appeared in court charged with dangerous driving and lying to an insurance company.

Harry Clarke, 59, from Baillieston in Glasgow, appeared in private at Glasgow Sheriff Court yesterday where he made no plea or declaration and was granted bail.

Papers from the court allege that on September 20, on Buchanan Street, Baillieston, and elsewhere he drove a car dangerously.

The charge alleges that he did so in the knowledge “on April 7 2010 you had suffered a loss of consciousness or an episode of altered awareness when behind the wheel of stationary bus”.

It also claims that he drove knowing “on December 22 2014 you had suffered a loss of consciousness when behind the wheel of a moving refuse collection vehicle resulting in the deaths of six members of the public and injury to 15 further members of the public”.

The charge further alleges that as a result of the two matters his licence was revoked on June 27 2015 for 12 months and he knew or ought to have known that he was unfit to drive and that there was a “real risk of suffering a loss of consciousness or episode of altered awareness whilst driving”.

The alternative charge alleges the driving was “culpable and reckless”.

Clarke faces a fraud charge of pretending to Direct Line Group and UK insurance Ltd that he held a driving licence by failing to notify them that his licence had been revoked and induced the company to insure him.

The final charge alleges that on May 12 2015 Clarke made a false statement to insurers that he had not had a road traffic accident in the previous three years.

The charge continues “the truth being that you had been the driver of a refuse collection vehicle involved in a road traffic accident on December 22 2014”.

The case continues.

Harry Clarke who was in court yesterday.