Truckie Jamie Gleeson fronts court over horror Exford bus crash
The driver of an Exford Primary School bus has told a court of his first thoughts after regaining consciousness in his mangled vehicle after a horror crash in which students lost hands and arms.
Police & Courts
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A school bus driver has recalled the horrifying moment he regained consciousness on the floor of his mangled, upturned vehicle after it was struck from behind by a truck in a horrific crash which resulted in amputation and serious injury to multiple students.
Truck driver Jamie Gleeson faced the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday charged with 10 counts of dangerous driving causing serious injury over the crash involving a busload of 45 Exford Primary School students in Melbourne’s west on May 16, 2023.
Two children had their hands and arms amputated, eight kids suffered life-threatening injuries, and a further 30 were “walking wounded” following the Eynesbury smash.
The badly injured children were aged between 5 and 11, according to charge sheets.
Experienced school bus driver Graham Stanley was behind the wheel that day.
The Melton West man told the court he lost consciousness following the crash, waking seconds or minutes later surrounded by broken glass on the left hand passenger side door of the upturned bus.
Mr Stanley said he unclipped his seatbelt soon after impact, wanting to tend to the school kids but not realising the back of the bus was about to flip on its side.
“The bus had stopped its forward momentum and my mind went straight to the kids in the back,” the bus driver told the court.
After regaining consciousness, Mr Stanley, with a head injury and broken ankle, unclipped the seatbelt of a terrified boy and removed him from the bus before inspecting it for potential fuel leaks or fire.
Defence lawyer James Anderson put to the bus driver that his memory of the crash could be inaccurate due to his head trauma.
However Mr Stanley said he believed his evidence was substantively true.
“At the time I was under a lot of stress and pain. I was obviously concerned for the kids and I may have mixed up some of my words while speaking (to police for his statement),” he told the court.
The collision occurred about 3.30pm during school drop-off as the school bus was turning right into Murphys Rd from Exford Rd.
Injured children were dragged from the wreckage by quick-acting passers-by, including tradies, prior to the arrival of firefighters, police and paramedics.
Several were trapped for hours, including a child who lost their arm after it was severed between a seat and window.
Forensic physician Dr John Gall was scruitinsed by Mr Gleeson’s defence team on his categorisation of the childrens’ injuries as serious.
“I have made it very clear what it is I’ve based my opinion on,” Dr Gall said, referring to his medical determinations.
Parents of some of the injured children listened to the proceeding remotely on Monday, one interjecting as evidence was being given.
The accused, a father of two, was in court supported by his father Robert Gleeson.
During his successful bail application last year, he told the court he saw the “sun flicker in the trees” before he smashed into the back of the bus.
“I tried to take evasive action but I couldn’t, and if I could have swerved around it I would have,” Mr Gleeson told police in a statement.
Outside court, Mr Gleeson refused to answer questions by media beyond that he was doing “OK”.
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