Loreto College student haunted by bus crash nightmare as truck driver faces court

The truck driver accused of ploughing into a bus carrying Loreto College students may force some of his victims into the witness box after contesting the seriousness of their injuries.

Truck driver Brett Russell, 60, is facing 80 offences after a horror crash near Bacchus Marsh, injuring 25 students in 2022. Picture: NCA Newswire

A student involved in a horror school bus crash suffers flashbacks and nightmares as the truck driver accused of causing the carnage challenges the severity of some of the children’s injuries.

Brett Russell, 61, is facing 80 charges after he allegedly ploughed into the back of a coach carrying dozens of students and teachers from Loreto College Ballarat, causing it to roll down an embankment on the Western Highway at Pentland Hills.

The bus was driving from Ballarat to Melbourne Airport to take the students to a NASA space camp in the United States when the B-double collided with them near roadworks about 3:16am on September 21, 2022.

Thirty five people were injured in the crash including 25 students, the bus driver, teachers and three road workers, with their injuries ranging from minor bruising to a near total foot amputation.

The aftermath of the scene when Brett Russell, 61, crashed into the rear of a bus carrying students from Lorteo College Ballarat. Picture: Brendan Beckett

The Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday heard the cause of the crash was not in dispute but Mr Russell was contesting the seriousness of some of the victims’ injuries meaning some students could be called to give evidence.

Both the prosecution and defence said they wanted to avoid calling the children to the witness box during the five-day committal hearing but some medical experts had not yet provided reports detailing the extent of their injuries.

Psychologist Gabrielle French told the court one of the students she treated described suffering episodes of disassociation, flashbacks and recurring nightmares involving buses every time she “shut (her) eyes”.

The bus driver, 25 students, teachers and three road workers were injured in the collision. Picture: Brendan Beckett

“The symptoms she came in with after were very clearly related to the accident,” she said.

Doctor Adam Rouse treated the bus driver for similar trauma related symptoms including post-traumatic stress disorder and said it took him several months to return to work on a part-time basis.

“In many of my consultations I’ve commented he continues to experience flashbacks and nightmares,” he said.

Mr Russell’s lawyer John Lavery told the court he would be “very surprised” if his client was not ordered to stand trial on some of the charges which include dangerous driving causing serious injury and reckless conduct endangering life.

Police documents state two of the truck’s trailer brakes were not operating properly and were “in effect inoperative” at the time of the crash, with Mr Russell telling investigators he was aware of the braking issues.

Police examine the scene after the horror collision along the Western Highway in Bacchus Marsh in September 2022. Picture: Brendan Beckett

The section of the highway where the crash occurred had been reduced to a 40km/h speed limit due to an earlier crash with traffic banked up, police allege.

“As he had ignored all of the warning signs that (he was) driving a vehicle that was unsafe, he was then heading down hill with no ability to slow the vehicle,” a police summary states.

The truck driver allegedly swerved into the left lane of the highway before rear-ending the bus which forced it through a barrier before tumbling down a steep embankment.

Mr Russell, who is on bail, sat quietly behind his lawyer and stared downwards for much of the proceeding.

Witnesses including medical experts, the bus driver, teachers and potentially students are expected to give evidence on Tuesday.