Driver of bin lorry which killed six people refuses to answer crucial

Harry Clarke, the driver in the Glasgow bin lorry tragedy which left six people dead, has described his last memory of the incident as “a bang, just like a light switch” before fainting at the wheel.

Several relatives walked out of the inquiry into the incident when Harry Clarke, 58, stayed silent to avoid incriminating himself at any future court case.

Mr Clarke broke his silence during a fatal accident inquiry to tell solicitor general about the day of the George Square tragedy.

Mr Clarke said he remembered being helped out of the bin lorry by fire fighters and speaking to an off duty nurse.

Mrs Thomson then asked: “Do you know that six people died on December 22, 2014?”

The situation entitled him not to answer certain questions if he so chose.

Ms Thomson replied: “The families have been in court every day to hear answers, do you know that?”

But Dorothy Bain QC, representing the family of Ms Morton, today told the inquiry, now in its fifth week, they had withdrawn the motion to have the inquiry adjourned.

He told the court he was already able to establish key facts and infer conclusions about Clarke’s medical history and conduct from evidence already disclosed to the inquiry, regardless of Clarke’s decision to refuse to answer key questions.

The inquiry has heard evidence that he blacked out at the wheel of a stationary bus in Glasgow in April 2010.

Continuing to recount the bad accident, he added: “I came to and I didn’t know what had happened to me, I couldn’t understand it”.

Mr Clarke was behind the wheel of the truck that lost control on Queen Street on December 22.

Buick said: “I would have contacted personnel with serious concerns”.

In court he repeatedly refused to answer questions on his medical history.

He told the inquiry he ate a chicken and mushroom Pot Noodle for lunch that day – and has not had one since – plus a packet of crisps and a biscuit.

Doctors diagnosed Mr Clarke with vaso vagal syndrome, a condition that affects the heart rate and blood pressure.

The former driver was then asked to look at his medical records dating back to June 1976 which listed periods of dizziness and ill-health.

After an interjection by his lawyer, Mr Clarke was reminded again by the sheriff that he does not have to give any answers that could incriminate him.

Erin McQuade (18), and her grandparents Jack Sweeney (68), and Lorraine Sweeney (69), from Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire, Stephenie Tait (29), and Jacqueline Morton (51), both from Glasgow, and Gillian Ewing (52), from Edinburgh, were all killed as the lorry travelled out of control towards George Square before crashing in to the side of the Millennium Hotel.

“They feel it is in the best interests of everyone to conclude this inquiry without delay”.

But during questioning by Mark Stewart QC, for the McQuade and Sweeney families, HSE inspector Barry Baker, 50, said they had not visited the council or requested paperwork from them.

Before giving evidence, Mr Clarke’s lawyer said that he would no doubt find it “traumatic” having questions put to him about the accident.