Killer bus driver to take the stand as judgment looms
Written by admin on September 11, 2024
A bus driver behind the wheel when a wedding bus crashed, killing 10 people and injuring 25 more in NSW’s popular Hunter Valley, is expected to give evidence in court for the first time.
Brett Button, 59, will appear before Newcastle District Court on Wednesday having 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, 2023 when the bus flipped at a roundabout at Greta.
Button sat stoically for two days, avoiding eye contact according to victims and families, 40 of whom provided victim impact statements to the court during a marathon sentence hearing.
With his sentence expected to be handed down on Judge Roy Ellis on Wednesday, Button is due to take the stand that same morning for the first time while he waits in custody on remand.
Over two days, the court has heard testimonials from survivors and the families of victims who detailed the life-changing impact of the crash, the state – and Australia’s – worst ever.
Among them was Graham McBride, whose wife Nadene and daughter Kyah were killed in the crash. He detailed in a heartfelt speech how his family tree had been savagely “cut down”.
Others lashed out in anger at the bus driver, like Nick Dinakis, partner of victim Darcy Bulman, who told Button he had “killed her” and taken away “her chance to be a mother”.
Survivors of the crash detailed the lifelong impacts of the incidence, including chronic ailments. One woman said she now suffered a permanent head tilt and could not eat properly.
Another survivor described the “carnage” of the aftermath of the crash, describing Button’s vehicle that day as a “bus of hell” and blasting the “intergenerational trauma” he had caused.
In his opening address, Judge Ellis said the sentencing proceedings were “pretty well unprecedented as never before have so many people been killed in a motor vehicle incident”.
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.
More to come.
