Driver behind Hunter Valley bus crash that killed 10 claims sentence ‘manifestly excessive’

New details have been revealed as the driver of the Hunter Valley bus crash fights his sentence over the tragedy that killed 10 people and injured more than two dozen others.

The driver behind the Hunter Valley bus crash that killed 10 people and injured more than two dozen others has claimed his prison term was “manifestly excessive” as he moves to fight his sentence.

Ten people died when a bus flipped on Wine Country Drive near Greta on the way back from a wedding reception on June 11, 2023.

Bus driver Brett Button had taken “significantly more” than his prescribed dose of the opioid-based painkiller Tramadol on the day of the horrific crash.

He’d also been stood down by a previous employer just a year prior after a pain specialist found he was addicted to Tramadol — which he’d been taking since the 1990s — and he did not tell operator Linq Buslines he was using the painkiller.

Ten people died in the Hunter Valley bus crash. Picture: NewsWire / Christian Gilles

Button initially faced 10 counts of manslaughter, however; they were ultimately dropped after prosecutors agreed to a plea deal, much to the anger of the victims’ families.

He pleaded guilty to 10 counts of dangerous driving occasioning death and nine of dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm.

Button was sentenced to 32 years behind bars with a non-parole period of 24 years last year.

However, he has since moved to fight the sentence, arguing the imprisonment term was “manifestly excessive”.

The other grounds of appeal argued the sentencing judge made mistakes in finding Button “drove knowing that he was under the influence” of Tramadol, and finding the tipping threshold for the bus was 31km/h.

The matter was heard briefly in Sydney’s Court of Criminal Appeal on Thursday morning, where the Crown prosecutor called it an “unusual matter”.

“It is only a sentence appeal – I don’t use the word only lightly,” she told the court.

“There are three grounds of appeal.

“It is an unusual matter.”

Brett Button was jailed over the fatal crash. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw

He is fighting his sentence. Picture: NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

She said there would be several victim impact statements in the “fairly lengthy” Crown bundle.

“As I indicated, a number of victim impact statements, medical reports … quite a volume of documentary evidence,” she said.

She also indicated there’d be character references for Button.

Lawyers for Button didn’t expect there to be re-sentencing materials put before the court at this stage.

He is set to front the court via a video link for a hearing on October 3.

Andrew Scott, 35, his wife Lynan Scott, 33, Nadene McBride, 52, her daughter Kyah McBride, 22, and her partner, Kane Symons, 21, Darcy Bulman, 30, Rebecca Mullen, 26, Zachary Bray, 29, Tori Cowburn, 29, and Angus Craig, 28, were all killed in the crash.

Originally published as Driver behind Hunter Valley bus crash that killed 10 claims sentence ‘manifestly excessive’