Glasgow bin lorry crash: Call for driver Harry Clarke to be prosecuted

Harry Clarke has been told he will not face criminal charges

Relatives of one of the Glasgow bin lorry crash victims have called for the driver involved to be prosecuted.

A fatal accident inquiry into the tragedy has heard claims that driver Harry Clarke, 58, lied to doctors about his medical history.

The Crown Office said before the inquiry began that no criminal charges would be brought.

In a statement released through their lawyer, the family of victim Jacqueline Morton criticised that decision.

The Crown explained its position in February, saying at the time that there was "no evidence to suggest that the driver's conduct at the time amounted to a breach of the criminal law."

A spokesman for the Crown Office confirmed: "This still remains the case and all the relevant evidence regarding these points was known to Crown Counsel at the time the decision to take no proceedings was made."

'Perfectly sensible'

A legal source has told BBC Scotland the law was "crystal clear" in that the Crown was now barred from prosecuting Mr Clarke as it had given him a "no proceedings" letter.

He said it was his opinion that saying the driver would not be prosecuted was "perfectly sensible".

Mr Clarke's lawyer would otherwise have advised him to refuse to answer all questions put to him so as not to say anything which might be used against him at a later criminal trial, he said.

This was likely to have prevented the inquiry achieving its aim of discovering as fully as possible what went wrong, he added.

But Mrs Morton's family said they had thought all along that Mr Clarke should face prosecution, and would be making a submission on the matter to Sheriff John Beckett, who is hearing the inquiry at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

They added: "While the evidential position will be determined by Sheriff Beckett, we wish to state that, based on the information given to the families by the Crown to justify their decision not to prosecute at the time, we do not accept that the Crown were in possession of all relevant information when the decision not to prosecute Mr Clarke was announced.

"Submissions to this effect will be made and developed on their behalf in the closing stages of the inquiry.

"We consider that the statement as to the applicable law apparently made by the Crown is simply incorrect. There is no basis in law for the suggestion that a prosecution for causing death by dangerous or careless driving would require to prove that it was foreseeable that the driver would suffer a loss of consciousness on the day of the collision."

(Clockwise from top left) Jack Sweeney, Lorraine Sweeney, Erin McQuade, Jacqueline Morton, Stephenie Tait and Gillian Ewing were killed in the crash

The family statement went on to say that the Crown's decision "makes us consider that their focus in the inquiry is on justifying their own decision not to prosecute rather than a robust and thorough investigation of the circumstances that led to this tragedy".

The inquiry has heard Mr Clarke, 58, previously fainted while working as a bus driver but failed to disclose the incident when he joined the council.

It has also heard a claim Mr Clarke "lied through his teeth" to doctors about his medical history.

The inquiry is due to continue on Monday morning.

HGV licence

Solicitor General Lesley Thomson, who is acting on behalf of the Crown, is expected to make a statement on whether Mr Clarke could still be charged with offences not directly relating to the crash, such as failing to disclose information about his medical history when renewing his HGV licence.

She had been asked by Sheriff Beckett last week to give a categorical statement on the issue before Mr Clarke begins giving evidence to the inquiry.

Glasgow City Council confirmed last week that it had suspended Mr Clarke on a precautionary basis pending a full disciplinary investigation into his conduct before and at the point where he commenced employment with the council.

Mrs Morton, 51, from Glasgow, was one of six people who died when the bin lorry went out of control in the city centre on 22 December of last year.

The others were Erin McQuade, 18, her grandparents Jack Sweeney, 68, and his 69-year-old wife Lorraine, all from Dumbarton, Stephenie Tait, 29, from Glasgow, and Gillian Ewing, 52, from Edinburgh.

A further 15 people were injured.