Police probe into bin lorry crash ‘is nearing an end’
A POLICE investigation is nearing completion into the Glasgow crash when six people died after a bin lorry careered out of control into a crowd of Christmas shoppers.
The formal report by Police Scotland is expected to be submitted to the Crown Office within the next two weeks.
The move comes as the driver of the lorry, which mounted the pavement and hit Christmas shoppers in Queen Street before crashing in George Square, was named yesterday as Harry Clarke, an experienced professional driver.
Mr Clarke, 58, has worked for Glasgow City Council since 2011 and had been a driver with the cleansing department since 2012. Previously, he had driven gritters and transported children with special learning needs.
Police have been investigating what caused Mr Clarke, who before working for the council drove buses for First Bus, to lose control of the vehicle, though at the time of the accident they stressed there was no suggestion that what happened was deliberate.
Eyewitnesses said he appeared to have fallen ill at the wheel of the lorry and was slumped over during the crash on December 22. It is thought he suffered a heart attack. He spent two weeks in the Western Infirmary before being released. No details of any health issues, or the cause of any illness which may have triggered the crash, have emerged.
It is also understood no health issues had been communicated between Mr Clarke’s previous and current employees. No decision has been taken on whether or not a fatal accident inquiry will be held, although there have been reports that one will be fast-tracked.
In the days following the tragedy, a relative of three family members who were killed – John Sweeney, 68, his wife, Lorraine, 69, and their 18year-old student granddaughter Erin McQuade – said he did not blame the driver for their deaths and wished him a speedy recovery.
Police Scotland said recently that officers investigating the crash would complete a formal private report by the end of the month.
Justice Secretary Michael Matheson said he expected the Crown Office to outline a timescale for any further investigation by the end of February.
The city council has stated that, since the George Square crash, no new training regimes for refuse collection crews on how to stop vehicles in an emergency have been introduced.
Trade union leaders have also dismissed the notion of a ‘dead man’s handle’ safety device being installed in vehicles.
Yesterday, a source said: ‘The driver would have needed to have been through several health checks in the last few years.
‘He would have been required to pass tests with his previous employer, would have required a clean bill of health to satisfy the DVLA for an HGV licence, and then passed whatever additional tests Glasgow City Council carry out.’
Last week, members of the Sweeney and McQuade families, from Dumbarton, publicly thanked all those who had helped on the day of the crash, from the emergency services who attended and local authority staff to people and passers-by who came to the aid of the injured and dying.
Glasgow City Council yesterday declined to confirm the bin lorry driver’s identity.
‘Driver would have had several health checks’