Bin lorry tragedy prompted bid for rare private prosecution
The rare legal bid for a private prosecution stems back to the tragedy on a typically busy Christmas shopping day in Glasgow almost two years ago.
The rare legal bid for a private prosecution stems back to the tragedy on a typically busy Christmas shopping day in Glasgow almost two years ago.
Thousands of people were in the city centre on Monday December 22 2014 visiting shops, restaurants and Christmas markets when a Glasgow City Council bin lorry turned into Queen Street at about 2.15pm.
The crew were chatting about their own Christmas plans but moments later driver Harry Clarke blacked out ''like a light switch''.
It took just 19 seconds for the tragedy to unfold and six people were killed and many more seriously injured as the truck mounted the pavement and careered along the road until it crashed into the Millennium Hotel.
All of those who died had been in the city centre preparing for Christmas - Erin McQuade and her grandparents Lorraine and Jack Sweeney had been out for lunch and shopping; Jacqueline Morton had finished work early and was on her way to pick up her grand-daughters; Gillian Ewing was heading for the train back to Edinburgh with her daughter Lucy; and school teacher Stephenie Tait was waiting to use a cash machine on Queen Street when the bin lorry mounted the pavement. Ms Ewing, who lived in Cyprus, was in Scotland to spend her first Christmas with family in Edinburgh for four years and had travelled to Glasgow to replace a sentimental ring.
The Crown Office said there was insufficient evidence in law to raise criminal proceedings and fast-tracked a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into the crash.
During the FAI, it emerged Mr Clarke had a history of blackouts and medical issues that had not been disclosed to the DVLA or when he was applying for the council job in 2010.
Sheriff John Beckett QC, who chaired the FAI, ruled the crash might have been avoided if Mr Clarke had told the truth about his medical history.
The sheriff found eight ''reasonable precautions'' - all relating to Mr Clarke's medical past - whereby the accident might have been avoided and made recommendations which could reduce the chance of another such tragedy from happening.
The Crown Office again defended the decision not to prosecute the driver, with former Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland QC saying he had ''no doubt that the decision was the correct one in law''.
He said the view was reached in full knowledge of all the major facts which emerged during the FAI and rejected suggestions decision-making in the case was rushed.
Unsatisfied with the Crown Office decision, lawyers for some of the victims' families raised the possibility of a rare private prosecution of Mr Clarke - with permission granted for only two such prosecutions since 1900.
When giving evidence to the FAI, Mr Clarke repeatedly refused to answer questions about his medical past with the prospect of a private prosecution hanging over him.
He did talk briefly about the day of the crash and said: ''Everything was okay, I saw the Christmas lights in the distance and the next minute ... it was like a light switch.
''I came to and I didn't know what had happened to me, I couldn't understand it. Matt was there, I said 'Matt, what happened?' and he couldn't talk to me.''
Mr Clarke resigned from his job with Glasgow City Council in October shortly before he was due to attend a disciplinary meeting.
He told a documentary aired days later he ''unreservedly'' apologised for his role in the tragedy.
In a letter to the BBC Scotland programme, Lies, Laws And The Bin Lorry Tragedy, Mr Clarke said: ''I understand that the impact of this event on me is irrelevant when compared to the loss that the families of the victims have suffered.
''I wish to unreservedly apologise for my role in this tragic event.''
Determined to push on, the McQuade family, who lost three relatives in the crash, launched a private prosecution bid and were joined by the families of students Mhairi Convy and Laura Stewart who died in similar circumstances in 2010 when William Payne passed out at the wheel of his Range Rover.
They first appealed to the Crown Office to support the move but when that was rejected took the case to High Court judges, marking a new chapter in Scottish legal history.