Dad’s family ‘ripped apart’ in horror crash: court
Written by admin on September 10, 2024
A driver behind the wheel of a wedding bus when it crashed killing 10 people and injuring 25 more in the NSW Hunter Valley will hear from more victims as he faces a second day of sentence hearings.
Brett Button, 59, will appear before Newcastle District Court on Tuesday having earlier pleaded guilty to 19 charges, including dangerous driving occasioning death and grievous bodily harm.
Button was driving guests from a wedding reception at the Wandin Valley Estate, two hours north of Sydney, back to Singleton on June 11 when the bus flipped onto its side at a roundabout at Greta.
At least 35 people are expected to provide witness impact statements to the court during a marathon three-day sentence hearing which began on Monday morning before Justice Roy Ellis.
Among those who gave evidence on Monday was Graham McBride, whose wife Nadene and daughter Kyah were killed in the crash. He told Button without his “girls I don’t have a life anymore”.
“My family tree has been cut down. A father should never have to attend the funeral of their whole family … The most precious thing in my life was savagely ripped from me,” Mr McBride said.
Nick Dinakis was also on the bus when it crashed, killing his partner Darcy Bulman. He told the court that since the horrific incident his life was “no longer for living but about survival”.
“You killed her. You took away her chance to be a mother. You killed my family, my future wife, my best friend,” Mr Dinakis said in reference to his partner, Ms Bulman, while fighting back tears.
In his opening address, Judge Roy Ellis said the sentencing proceedings were “pretty well unprecedented as never before have so many people been killed in a motor vehicle incident”.
Judge Ellis told the court that emotions were likely to run high during the three-day sentencing proceedings, and the reams of victim impact statements to be read aloud would be “unsettling”.
The seasoned judge is expected deliver Button’s sentence on Wednesday, with as many as 60 people expected to attend on behalf of victims and extra facilities set up for the large amount of media.
It comes more than a year after the horror crash that shook the Hunter Valley and Singleton communities.
Andrew Scott, 35, and wife Lynan Scott, 33, Nadene McBride, 52, daughter Kyah McBride, 22, and her partner, Kane Symons, 21, Darcy Bulman, 30, Rebecca Mullen, 26, Zachary Bray, 29, Tori Cowburn, 29, and Angus Craig, 28, were killed in the crash.
The incident quickly became one of the state’s – and Australia’s – worst ever fatal road incidents, with Button at one point facing a whopping 89 charges, including 10 counts of manslaughter.
Ultimately, prosecutors agreed to a plea deal that resulted in the manslaughter charges being dropped to the anger of families. Button is in custody on remand before sentencing.
