Some people feel they have to keep things quiet to get a job.

However it does seem this was an on going problem and he does seem to have no sympathy or sorrow for those who died and were injured which is sad.

I can see that, in the way you and other posters here are just enjoying spitting venom with the usual outrage.

I'll make a suggestion as to why he was perhaps economical with the truth about his health, or in denial about it, and I don't think it is because he is "scum" but because he had a misguided but understandable need to head off any suggestion that he wasn't fit to carry on working. Not as some high-flying lawyer or banker, or MP, but as a lowly bin man.

Why would anybody be desperate to be a bin-man? Perhaps he had or has money difficulties, who knows? But the prospect of losing a licence and losing a livelihood and income obviously led him to keep quiet about his health issues.

As is usual with this kind of disaster, it was a culmination of failures that led to the fateful incident, not just him neglecting to mention he fainted in 1989 or whenever it was.

But carry on, the outrage posts are good for a laugh.

He visited the doctor on many occassions with depression, vertigo and passing out... Clarke still has a job with the council whether he s suspended just now or not....... good that your laughing as none of the victims are able to and their relatives... he asked and got his licences back, is that not enough for you.. or are you in here just for a laugh yourself.. its not in the least bit funny.... Clarke was a chancer on many occassions and still is chancing his luck, you worry about him losing his livelihood while others lost their lives.. .. Maybe if you read more about the case you would know the correct dates ...

Look, I know you like to regularly post the latest round of guilt-fodder by way of article excerpts about the victims, but it's a game I'm not going to play. I'm laughing at the outrage posts, not about the incident, so don't try and make that spurious link either.

Ask yourself, why was he a chancer? Why was the guy so desperate to hold onto a job driving a bleeding bin wagon for pity's sake? It's a crap job working on the bins, but it's all a lot of working class men can get.

Nobody here seems to want to discuss what might have motivated his apparent need to keep his rather menial job. It just gets ignored so you can all throw digital rotten fruit at the guy instead. You're the modern day attendees of the stocks or the ducking stool. Times haven't changed at all.

You want me to sympathise or care about this man, not on your life.. I wouldnt care what kind of job he had, he knew he hadnt told the truth and still lied in the hospital after the accident to doctors.. Hes rotten to the core and only sees life from his perspective, ME ME ME... To ask for his licence back was appalling and you know it... and as I said he still had a job with the council then...We have still to hear about the injuries to the other fifteen people , the ones he didnt kill , and Mr Clarke wanted to go about his same job driving an HGV conveniently forgetting all about what hes done........ hes not real..who else could step back into a vehicle so soon after such carnage..and how stupid of his lawyer not to stop him applying for the licences.. or did he like Clarke think he was home free.... Something is very wrong about this hasty decision not to prosecute, and it stinks..

So why was he so desperate to drive a bin wagon? It's a menial, low-brow job.

I think the majority of people here implicitly understand why he'd want to hang onto his job without needing it spelled out for us. It's the question of whether that mitigates in any way his repeated choice to ignore the high likelihood of passing out while operating a vehicle...again. For most people the answer seems to be "no".

ask Mr Clarke as I could never take his place in a million years or answer for the fool.oh I forgot he either doesnt remember or refuses to answer.

I don't many people here do understand it to be honest, I just think it's more fun for them to boo and hiss because he is the pantomime villain-du-jour.

I'm asking you to form an opinion as to why he might be so desperate, what his motivation might have been, but I forgot, ranting and posting excerpts to keep stoking those emotive fires is more your style in this thread.

will you answer me one question please.. would you apply for both drivers licences back after you had mowed down 21 people killing six while passed out at the wheel of a lorry in town...this is what has sickened many people... The man cant be right in the head to think about driving ever again..and its nothing like a pantomime, not in the least...

It's bad form to keep ducking questions and instead responding with questions of your own. It shows a lack of debating capability.

However, to answer it, I might do, if I was shitting myself that I couldn't pay the bills.

What questions am I ducking... that this man needed a job so bad he told lies... I said he still had a job with the council, so he could pay these bills that your creating now to suit yourself.. so you would still perhaps ask for your licences back .... Id laugh only this is so serious a thread... your at it and you know it... your grinding away here trying to get hackles up when you know full well its a disgrace what Clarke has done wanting to drive only months after the tragedy.. Your own debating isnt debating its name calling other posters. and trivilizing a very serious incident.

Not disclosing that he was prone to blackouts, the drivers action was nothing less than criminal and should be imprisoned.

He won't even apologise for those he killed.

You trivialise it every time you link to another excerpt. I keep wanting to play "Our Tune" when I see them. There is no question that he needed the job, but I'm asking you for your opinion as to what the motivation might have been for wanting that particular job. I think it was most likely financial, simple as that. People don't always do what is most obviously the right thing when faced with losing a job, income. Perhaps their home.

You asked me whether I would apply for my licence back, and I gave you a reason why I might just be driven to do so.

I'm not trying to get your hackles up, I'm just poking around to see if you have anything other to offer other than a) keep telling us he lied and lied and lied and lied and lied and b) posting the daily victim update to remind everybody just how evil he is, in your mind.

And you haven't. It's just black and white as far as you're concerned.

excuse me,, Ill answer you... I dont care what this man wanted with the jobs he lied to get, his needs dont interest me in the least... I post from the BBC news Scotland on the hearing , if thats stoking fires IM at a loss..

I know this. It's quite apparent.

It doesn't stop you offering an objective opinion mind you.

lowest form of wit or so Ive heard.. back off.. your just showing yourself up on this matter.. using your own words "stoking the fire" your doing a good damn job of it...

Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, and I haven't been sarcastic to you. Do you suspect he might have had financial reasons for being desperate to hang onto that particular job?

If you say "I don't care...yada yada" I'll just assume you don't want to debate about this topic, and instead just retain the status quo where you all just have fun venting about the guy.

Low brow and menial job ?, Gee thanks Mr Trump

In the world of HGV, a council bin lorry driver is on good money and unlike haulage, has a job for life.

A class 2 bin lorry driver can expect £12-15 per hour, with a 40 hour week and bit of overtime that's £2500 per 4 weeks, not bad for a menial job.

That's rich coming from you. What was it, a decision not to prosecute was taken within days? Rather than the 3 months that it actually was.


But there's only one person that's showing themselves up as overly emotional and somewhat obsessional about this matter.

if emotional means caring then I put my hands up.... Im normally very placid but this incident has got to me.. so yes I do feel strongly about it.. and thanks for sifting and remembering my mistakeIm grateful and admit I was wrong there..

After an investigation by Police Scotland, which did not involve Clarke giving a police statement,[15] on 25 February 2015 the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) concluded that no criminal charges would be brought against either Clarke or the council.

BIB: I feel this may be true.

Wasn't aware of the salary but then again never thought about it to be honest. It does seem that his income may have been a reason in trying to retain his licence(s).