Philip Sim ‏@BBCPhilipSim 5m5 minutes ago
Ms Ham agrees that Mr Clarke would never have got a job with the council if he had told the truth. #binlorrycrash

Philip Sim ‏@BBCPhilipSim 5m5 minutes ago
Ms Bain: "on analysis, the bond of trust between the council and Mr Clarke is non-existent. He should never have been employed by council."



His medical history is a real eye opener.

Not often a post on DS genuinely leaves me gobsmacked. All those livetweets back a page are quite damning.

I'm being terribly lazy asking this here... but can the driver (or anyone else) end up in prison over this health issue?

Because top lawyers know more about the law than you.

Remember that the council will have gone into full self preservation mode now and will be doing and saying anything in order to make themselves look better.

They ultimately failed to carry out even the most basic of checks on him by the look of it.

hahahaha clearly they didnt mr know it all.

I was gobsmacked whilst reading, thinking it couldn't get any worse than the previous tweet.

The driver should be I doubt anyone else will. This DVLA link says drivers can be prosecuted if you have an accident and have lied about your medical issue that could impair your driving. https://www.gov.uk/driving-medical-conditions

it seems a few families had spoken to the press prior to this saying they were being kept in the dark, it's certainly obvious now. The council and the man responsible must have been dreading this coming out.

I think this and agreeing with a lot of what Calamity and others are saying, there appears to a lot of vested interest in this sorry saga being minimised.

I have to wonder how many other Glasgow bin lorry men, HGV drivers, Fire Men, Tipper Drivers, so many more and of course not just Scotland all over who have been passed fit to drive and it is a ticking time bomb?

Such jobs are so stressful.

What ever the cause, how many times must a driver pass out before someone does there job and puts a stop to danger drivers.

What is happening here IMO is a real attempt by those who should have done their job, running for cover, who looked the other way and people died because of it.

Perhaps a solution is to put all public vehicle drivers, hooked up on tread mill, every two years.

A white wash is going on, there is a problem and no one wants to accept that because of the ensuing chaos.

That IMO is why there were no charges.

This guy's first job with GCC was driving the bus for disabled children. It doesn't bear thinking about what else could have happened.

I'll take their word for it over your ideas about them 'playing pranks' in the cab.

Good little prole.

Could the driver be pursued in civil cases by families if the deaths were found to be preventable had he fully disclosed his medical history?

I said it may have been. will we ever bloody know... this man was a walking timebomb who was advised not to drive his tanker way back in 2003 over having dizzy spells... jeezus how many warnings did he need...I dont claim to have the brains of one of these senior lawyers, but I think I have integrity...these lawyers have their own agenda it seems...

Advocate Brian McConnachie QC, a former senior prosecutor at the Crown Office, told The Herald: “It seems rather odd that if the position is that the driver didn’t tell the truth, there hasn’t been at least some consideration of the fact that if you’re driving in the knowledge that you may have a medical condition that puts people lives at risk, it amounts to dangerous driving.

“There was nothing to stop the Crown having the FAI before they took a decision on prosecution, even if there was some doubt about the evidence. I don’t understand why they didn’t wait.

“The Crown are usually very reluctant to tell people that they’re not going to be prosecuted. Their decision to do so in this case is now beginning to look rather hasty, if not the wrong decision.”

I'd be interested to know if all the facts were known to them at the time of that statement.

The driver, his insurer and GCC will have their arses handed to them in civil court. I doubt it will have much impact on him personally unless he has some wealth. However, I wouldnt be surprised to see a private prosecution attempted by the families.

Turning it into a witch hunt isn't going to help anyone.

It's not a witch hunt to expect justice to be done. He lied, his lies caused the deaths of several people and ruined others. The idea that he just walks away while the justice system shrugs is awful. That will not deter the next liar.

It's unravelling exactly who lied or misled, where and at what point. At this moment the finger is pointing at the driver and GCC. Insurance companies rely upon honesty and anyone who has lied or misled them in any way would be subject to prosecution as it is an offence.

The families of those killed could bring civil action against GCC and the driver. Also GCC's insurance company may well decide to bring a case against them. At the moment it's one almighty mess.


No it isn't but every company has legal responsibilities to it's employees and, as in this case, ensuring the safety of the general public. There is a whole raft of company law controlling them and it seems GCC themselves will also be in for a whacking.

It was an accident. The idea that you prosecute him as a criminal isn't a viable option the Crown said. Learning from the accident will help, not prosecuting a guy that must feel terrible as it is.

It was an accident, the GCC or the driver didn't know they were going to pass out. The Crown were quite explicit.

Not quite that simple. It's already been stated that the driver lied (or misled) on filling in a medical form. Whether that was to the DVLA or GCC makes him culpable.

Yes it was an accident.....but one which could have been prevented had the correct procedures been followed.

I totally agree. I take it the DVLA wasn't aware of his medical problems if not he should be prosecuted. This was a preventable incident if he had told the truth to the Council and DVLA he would never have been driving that bin lorry, those poor people wouldn't have died and we wouldn't be discussing this tragedy now.

Was it an accident? Or an event that had a high chance of happening given his medical history. I think, given the driver's deceits he was well aware passing out or taking ill at the wheel was a possibility.

Of course it was an accident. If he is unconscious then how can it not be an accident?