Bin lorry driver avoids jail for getting back behind wheel
Bin lorry driver avoids jail for getting back behind wheel
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The driver of a Glasgow bin lorry which crashed killing six people has avoided jail for getting back behind the wheel without a licence just nine months after the tragedy.
Harry Clarke, 60, admitted driving a car in September 2015, despite his licence having been revoked for medical reasons.
It was just months after his refuse lorry ran out of control in the city centre and killed six people.
Jack and Lorraine Sweeney, 68 and 69, and their granddaughter Erin McQuade, 18, Stephenie Tait, 29, Jacqueline Morton, 51, and Gillian Ewing, 52, died in the incident.
Clarke appeared for sentencing at Glasgow Sheriff Court today after pleading guilty to the 2015 offence at a hearing last month.
He avoided a jail term but was given a three-year driving ban, a 12-month supervision order and 150 hours' unpaid work. He will also have to wear an electronic tag.
Sheriff Martin Jones QC told Clarke that he passed the 'custody threshold' but that he was legally prevented from jailing him because he was a 'first-time offender'.
Clarke was not prosecuted over the bin lorry crash, with the Scottish Crown Office insisting there was insufficient evidence to bring criminal proceedings.
In the latest court case, he admitted he had driven despite knowing he had suffered a loss of consciousness while at the wheel of the refuse vehicle on December 22 2014, resulting in the deaths and leaving 15 more people injured.
His licence had been revoked for 12 months in June 2015 and the charge states he knew or ought to have known that he was unfit to drive and there was a risk he might lose consciousness.
Senior Fiscal Depute Martin Allan told the court a neighbour spotted Clarke driving out of the car park of his home in the Baillieston area of Glasgow at about 8pm on the evening of September 20 2015 and called the police.
He said: 'Mr Clarke was rummaging in the boot of his car and the neighbour went home and told his girlfriend, and they looked out of the window.
'After watching for 30 seconds to two minutes, both saw the accused get into the driver's seat, switch on the lights and drive out of the car park onto Buchanan Street. He was the sole occupant of the car.
'Both were suspicious about his ability to drive because of the media coverage and they did some research online and found that his licence had been revoked on medical grounds. They called the police at 8.04pm.
While waiting for the police between 10.15pm and 10.20pm, they saw his car return again to the car park and it parked up in the usual space.
'He got out and went to the boot to get carrier bags.'
Ross Yuill, defending Clarke, said his client drove from the residents' car park of his block of flats through a tunnel onto Buchanan Street and parked near the main entrance to the building so that he could unload some heavy items.
He said Mr Clarke drove around 30 yards on the public road. He added: 'He wholly accepts that that decision was a gross error of judgment.'
Police went to Clarke's home on September 22 and he was cautioned and charged. The court heard that he told police: 'I have never been out on a public road, I've just moved the car in the private car park.'
Sentencing him today, Sheriff Jones told him: 'You must understand that your decision to drive your vehicle on the road even a short distance was wholly irresponsible and reprehensible. You placed the public at risk.
'You must have been acutely aware of the consequences of you suffering a loss of consciousness when driving following the incident in 2014.'
A fatal accident inquiry into the Glasgow bin lorry crash heard Clarke had a history of health issues but had not disclosed his medical background to his employers or the DVLA.
Sheriff John Beckett QC, who chaired the inquiry, ruled the crash might have been avoided if Clarke had told the truth about his medical history.
The court heard Clarke also knew he had suffered a loss of consciousness or an episode of altered awareness while at the wheel of a stationary bus on April 7, 2010
In a rare legal move, relatives of three crash victims sought permission from senior judges to bring charges against him in a private prosecution.
However, judges at the Appeal Court in Edinburgh ruled in November last year the family could not launch a private prosecution.
Clarke's licence was revoked by the DVLA on medical grounds in June 2015 after they became aware of the incident in 2010 in addition to the incident in December 2014.
His licence to drive cars was revoked for 12 months and his licence to drive buses and lorries for 10 years.
Clarke was originally charged with three other road traffic offences relating to insurance and licence matters. However, his not guilty pleas were accepted by the Crown.
