Hunter Valley bus crash: Leanne Mullen’s letter to parliament criticising DPP for dropping manslaughter charges against driver Brett Button

NSW Parliament has heard how Leanne Mullen endured the torture of standing metres from the body of her “baby girl” to allow justice to be done, only for her heart to be broken again when manslaughter charges were dropped.

The bus crash at Greta where 10 people died Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

The mother of Hunter Valley bus victim Rebecca Mullen has bravely opened up about her harrowing and ongoing heartache as she lashes prosecutors for dropping manslaughter charges against driver Brett Button because her “daughter and her friends weren’t worth the effort”.

Leanne Mullen said last week’s decision to withdraw the more serious offences as Button pleaded to 10 counts of dangerous driving causing death would continue to haunt her “every day for the rest of my life” as she had lost faith in the justice system.

In a heartbreaking letter read in NSW Parliament by Upper Hunter MP Dave Layzell on Wednesday night, Mrs Mullen spoke of the ‘torture” of knowing her 28-year-old daughter’s body remained in the wreck of the bus for 48 hours after the crash in June last year.

“It is irrational in all ways, I know, but I am haunted knowing how cold it was on those nights and I wasn’t there for her,” Mrs Mullen wrote.

“It keeps going over and over in my head that if I had been paying attention, I could have taken her a blanket and asked that they keep her warm.

Leanne Mullen, mother of Hunter Valley bus crash victim Rebecca Mullen, leaves Newcastle courthouse after one of the appearances of bus driver Brett Button. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

“I want people to think back to the footage shown to the nation repeatedly of the bus being on its side, my daughter is in there.

“Footage of the bus being righted, it bouncing on the road as it landed. It was a “delicate” operation apparently as the victims were still inside the bus it was reported.

Rebecca Mullen

“My head has been torturing me constantly thinking about what they did to my daughter’s body during that process. Was she tied down, was she taped down, was she so tangled in the seats that she didn’t move, did they just let her fall.

“Every scenario, over and over in my head, night after night. We did not get to see our daughter for over two weeks after the accident and when we did it was in a cold and sterile morgue.”

But, Mrs Mullen wrote, she reconciled the torture of standing metres away from her “baby girl” with a trust that “in sacrificing my rights as a mother to hold my daughter close as she left this earth”, she was allowed police to gather evidence and “ensure justice was done”.

“That my sacrifice as a mum would be worth something meaningful in time,” she wrote.

Brett Button arrives at Newcastle court last week surrounded with family and friends. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

“Sadly, it wasn’t the case. My daughter and her friends weren’t worth the effort of a trial.

“I have lost my faith and trust in justice. The powerlessness of it all is crippling. The realisation that the truth is not your right to understand is confronting.

“It has torn apart any progress we have made recovering from this nightmare we find ourselves in.

“I am the one with the life sentence of knowing that the people who could make a difference decided that they would not fight to properly honour Rebecca and her friends in the way they deserve.

“They decided to do what was easy and timely, rather than what was right. I cannot reconcile that in my head at all and will be hurt by this decision every day for the rest of my life.”

Mr Layzell said he was reading Mrs Mullen’s letter because he needed to speak on behalf of his community that remained upset and dismayed by the decision.

“Our justice system needs to be fair, and it needs to be seen as fair by our whole community,” the Nationals MP said.

“Our legal justice system is an important part of the grieving process for the victims, victims’ families and victim-survivors.

“We rely on the DPP to do their job to the best of their ability and with the fullness of their reach.

“They are independent but not above criticism. It is important to place on the record the impact of the DPP’s decision on the people it affects.”