Appeal verdict for killer bus driver who left 10 dead
Adelaide Lang and Alex Mitchell |
The driver responsible for one of Australia’s deadliest bus crashes has lost his bid to reduce his jail sentence over a horrific mass fatality crash.
Brett Andrew Button, 60, was handed a decades-long sentence for causing a crash that killed 10 mostly young wedding guests and injured another 25 in June 2023.
He was driving too fast and under the influence of the opioid painkiller Tramadol before his bus tipped at a roundabout in Greta in the NSW Hunter Valley.
His sentencing judge said in his half-century of involvement in the judicial system, he was unaware of any other case that had such a devastating impact on so many people.
Seven victims were from nearby Singleton – many linked to the local AFL club, including coach Nadene McBride and her daughter Kyah and Kyah’s partner.
Others lived in Queensland or the married couple’s childhood city of Melbourne.
Button appealed the length of his 32-year sentence, with his lawyer arguing some of the 35 criminal charges he pleaded guilty to had been double-counted.
The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal dismissed his appeal on Friday, leaving in place the full term and 24-year non-parole period.
Button’s lawyer had argued the sentence was disproportionate to the crime.
“As catastrophic as the consequences were of the applicant’s dangerous driving, the aggregate sentence imposed was manifestly unjust and unfair,” Button’s barrister Paul Rosser KC had written in submissions to the court.
Button also argued the sentencing judge erred by finding the bus driver knew he was under the influence of the painkiller and that the tipping point of the bus was only 31km/h.
The bus driver had previously argued he did not realise he was affected by the opioid because he had taken it for so long and never felt impacted by it.
Director of Public Prosecutions Sally Dowling SC told the appeal hearing Button should have known he was under the drug’s effect because he was fired from a previous job when his employer learned he had become addicted.
The bus, which was carrying guests from a wine estate wedding, entered an elliptical roundabout on the way to Singleton before tipping over and hitting a guardrail.
“This next part’s going to be fun,” Button told passengers before accelerating into the roundabout and speeding around the turn before the crash.
Survivors described feeling they were about to die as the bus fell sideways towards a roadside barrier.
“The sensation of falling sideways and being completely powerless was terrifying,” Jason Junkeer told Button’s sentencing hearing.
AAP
