A bus driver has been sentenced to 32 years in prison, with a non-parole period of 24 years, over a fatal crash in the Hunter Valley last year.
Brett Button pleaded guilty to 35 charges, including 10 counts of dangerous driving causing death.
In court this week, Button said he takes “responsibility for the death and injuries… I live with this every day and I hate myself.” He denied negligence.
The crash
Over NSW’s June long weekend last year, Button was booked to drive wedding guests from a Hunter Valley venue to the town of Singleton, about 35kms away.
Witnesses told police they became frightened by Button’s driving, with some fastening their seatbelts.
Button lost control of the bus at a roundabout, causing the bus to tip onto its side and flatten a guard rail.
Police found Button was driving too fast to safely navigate the roundabout.
10 passengers were killed and 25 were injured.
Button told the court this week he was “dependent” on a prescription opioid and that it impaired his driving.
He did not tell the bus company he worked for that he used the drug.
Response
Before a judge handed down Button’s sentence, survivors and loved ones of those killed read victim impact statements.
Graham McBride, whose wife and daughter were killed in the crash, said he felt his “family tree has been cut down… I don’t have a life anymore.”
Nick Dinakis, who sustained a brain injury and lost his partner in the crash, said there was “no punishment large enough that can soften the blow of the senseless, careless and stupid crime [Button] committed.”
Verdict
In court today, Judge Roy Ellis sentenced Button to a maximum of 32 years in jail, with the possibility of parole after 24 years.
Ellis said the case involved “extraordinary devastation”, the likes of which he has “never dealt with”.
He added: “The sentence I impose will not bring back the deceased… heal the physical injuries or survivors or heal the heartache of the families of the ten deceased victims.”
