New hearing needed in Glasgow bin lorry crash inquiry

The bin lorry crash in the centre of Glasgow happened just three days before Christmas

A further preliminary hearing is to be held before it will be known if the fatal accident inquiry into the Glasgow bin lorry crash can begin on 22 July.

Glasgow Sheriff Court heard lawyers for victims' families wanted to commission reports relating to the lorry and driver and still had to see evidence.

The inquiry is due to last three weeks.

Six people died and 10 more were injured when the council bin lorry crashed into pedestrians in Glasgow city centre on 22 December last year.

The preliminary hearing at Glasgow Sheriff Court was told that lawyers representing the families were not in a position to say if they would be ready to proceed on the proposed start date of 22 July.

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

This was because they had still to see all the evidence relating to the crash.

Family representatives have also said they would like to commission their own reports.

One would look at the technical aspects of the lorry, such as emergency stop equipment and human error.

The other would look at GPs who cared for the driver, Harry Clark, at the time of "an episode" in 2010.

The court was given no further information as to what the term "episode" meant.

The fatal accident inquiry will look at the driver's medical background and his fitness to hold a licence.

It will also consider the technical aspects of the vehicle itself and whether it was appropriate for it to take the route it did.

Scotland's second most senior law officer, Solicitor General Lesley Thomson QC, will lead the inquiry.

Erin McQuade, 18, her grandparents Jack Sweeney, 68, and his 69-year-old wife Lorraine, all from Dumbarton, died in the incident in the city's Queen Street and George Square.

Stephenie Tait, 29, and Jacqueline Morton, 51, both from Glasgow, and Gillian Ewing, 52, from Edinburgh, were also killed when the truck mounted the pavement before crashing into the side of the Millennium Hotel.