Hunter Valley bus crash driver Brett Button’s sentence proceedings continue
One of the Hunter Valley bus crash survivors has given a horrific insight into the terror unleashed inside the bus as it rolled and killed 10 people.
Police & Courts
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One of the Hunter Valley bus crash survivors has given a horrific insight into the terror unleashed inside the bus as it rolled and killed 10 people.
Killer bus driver Brett Button is expected to give evidence at his sentencing hearing, facing victims’ families and survivors with words for the first time since he killed 10 people and maimed a further 25 passengers more than 15 months ago.
Button has sat in the Newcastle District Court dock since Monday, listening to dozens of harrowing victim impact statements detailing the devastating loss, grief and anger following the Greta tragedy.
He previously pleaded guilty to 10 counts of dangerous driving occasioning death following the horror crash last year as the passengers travelled back from a wedding.
Before beginning his statement, grievously injured survivor Drew El Moussalli asked Button’s counsel to demand the killer driver look at him as he spoke.
Button has spent much of the proceedings gazing down at his hands.
“You stood there with your hands in your pockets, as I was on the ground with my shirt covering my best mate’s head as he was bleeding to death,” Mr El Moussalli said.
“I have memories of dismembered bodies, looking at the many lifeless bodies at the back of the bus that you killed – your bus of hell.”
Button is expected to move to the witness box during his defence arguments on sentence, where he will speak for the first time about the crash.
Button did release a statement after a court appearance in March, read by his solicitor Chris O’Brien outside Newcastle Local Court.
“There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think about what happened that night,” Mr O’Brien read.
“There isn’t an hour that goes by that I’m not thinking of the families that have been affected by the crash.
“Truly, for anyone involved including the emergency services, I am devastated by what has occurred and I am truly, deeply sorry.”
But the evidence Button will give in the witness box will be the first time he has spoken about the crash.
The sister of a woman who died with her daughter in the horrific Hunter Valley bus crash has said she is “unable to see the beauty left in this harsh world”.
Helen Arthur, whose sister Nadene McBride, niece Kyah and her partner Kane Symons lost their lives in the bus crash, was overwhelmed by tears as she gave her victim impact statement.
Darcy Bulman, Rebecca Mullen, Zachary Bray, Andrew Scott and his wife Lynan Scott, Tori Cowburn, Angus Craig, Nadene McBride, her daughter Kyah McBride and Kyah’s partner Kane Symons were all killed in the tragedy.
“Losing my sister, my best friend, my saviour, was the worst day of my life,” Ms Arthur said.
“Since the death of Nadene, Kyah and Kane, I’m struggling to function – I feel that my life will always be sad and overwhelming until the day I die.”
Ms Arthur recalled how she and Nadene raised their children together in Kalgoorlie, and how she regarded Kyah as a daughter to her.
“The loss of my beautiful sister and niece, who were fiercely loving, caring, loyal, generous people has seriously made me unable to see the beauty left in this harsh world,” she said.
On Monday, Nadene and Kyah’s husband and father Graham – who was also grievously injured in the crash – gave a heartwrenching statement about the loss of his family.
“I wonder how amazing my grandkids would have been – not only have I been robbed of my grandparent experience, all lifelines have been stopped, my family tree has been cut down,” he said.
“My girls were my life. I don’t have a life anymore … I sit at the empty table, with three empty seats, no-one to share my woes with.”
Kane Symons’ father Steve has said there is a void that will never be filled in the wake of his son’s death.
“Each day without Kane feels like a reminder of the dreams and aspirations that will never be realised,” Mr Symons said.
“The pain of losing my son is a constant companion - the grief is profound.”
Mr Symons choked up as he shared how Kane’s former football club in Horsham keeps a photo of him in their changeroom, and that players give him a high-five as they run out to the field.
“His story was one of resilience and boundless potential,” Mr Symons said.
“His death has shattered our lives in a manner words can’t fully capture.”
The mother of Zach Bray, who tragically died on the bus less than two years after defeating stage three bowel cancer, described him as her confidante, supporter and best friend.
Jacqui Varasdi said the impact on Bray’s younger siblings, stepfather, and his then-girlfriend Georgie Copeland – who had already endured the loss of her fiance years earlier in another major crash – was immeasurable.
“The night before his surgery, he wrote a Facebook post revealing what he was about to undergo, he described the symptoms and urged anyone experiencing them to seek medical advice,” Ms Varasdi said.
“He saved lives – he was always thinking of others.”
Ms Varasdi also said she constantly grieved the moments she would never have with her son, and expressed her frustration with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for dropping manslaughter charges.
Tori Cowburn’s mother Kay Welsh described the moment she woke in the middle of the night, heart racing – to discover an SOS notification sent from her daughter’s smart watch saying a crash had been detected.
She and her husband followed the geolocation to where the bus had crashed, before they were redirected to a local Rural Fire Service station to wait for more information.
When the call came through confirming the worst, Ms Welsh said she dropped to her knees.
“At that moment, my world stopped – my heart felt like it had been ripped from my chest,” Ms Welsh said through tears.
“No parent should ever endure the torturous and unimaginably heartbreaking task of arranging their child’s funeral.”
Ms Welsh lamented that she would never again hear her daughter banter with her husband, play up to their security camera, or feel her kiss on her cheek in greeting.
On Monday, relatives of Ms Bulman, Ms Mullen, the Scotts, Mr Craig, Mrs McBride and Ms McBride gave harrowing victim impact statements detailing the abiding loss they had experienced in the wake of the tragedy.
The victim impact statements will continue on Tuesday at Newcastle District Court before Judge Roy Ellis, before the Crown and defence close their cases on Wednesday.
Button, who has admitted being affected by an opiate painkiller and boasting to passengers moments before the Linq Buslines coach entered a roundabout on June 11, has been in custody since he pleaded guilty to the charges.
Button has also pleaded guilty to nine counts of dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm and has admitted to 16 counts of drive furiously in a motor vehicle to cause bodily harm, which he will ask the judge to take into account during sentencing.
More to come.
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