Driver in Glasgow bin lorry tragedy suspended from work

A GP who examined the Glasgow bin lorry crash driver after a previous blackout was unaware it happened at the wheel of a bus, an inquiry has heard.

It comes after a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) that is taking place into the tragedy was told that Mr Clarke did not disclose his medical history when completing a health questionnaire when he applied to work for the council.

A council spokesman confirmed Clarke’s suspension, the Scottish Daily Record reported.

“A number of allegations have been made during the enquiry in regard to Mr Clarke’s conduct before and at the point where he commenced employment with the Council”.

The court was shown a letter from Dr Kenneth Lyons, an occupational health doctor with FirstBus, which gives different information about where the fainting incident took place.

Clarke, 58, was driving the council truck in Glasgow city centre on December 22 last year when he became slumped at the wheel and the lorry veered out of control.

Erin McQuade, 18, and her grandparents Jack Sweeney, 68, and Lorraine Sweeney, 69, from Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire, were struck and killed by the lorry on December 22.

Stephenie Tait, 29, and Jacqueline Morton, 51, both from Glasgow, and Gillian Ewing, 52, from Edinburgh, were also killed when the truck mounted the pavement before crashing into the side of the Millennium Hotel.

There were also two cases of fainting recorded, one in 1989 when he worked for Tennent Caledonian Breweries and another in 2010 when he was at the wheel of a First Bus vehicle in Glasgow.

THE GP who saw bin lorry driver Harry Clarke following his faint at the wheel of a bus deemed him fit to work as a bus driver, an inquiry heard today. The moderator will not enter into debate with individual contributors and the moderator’s decision is final.

Earlier the inquiry was told he got his job as a bin lorry driver just two months after the First Bus blackout.

Mr McIlvride asked: “If we hear evidence that at the time of the restoration of Mr Clarke’s licence on April 28, the DVLA had no information at all about the incident in 2010, from either Mr Clarke or any medical practitioners, would that surprise you?”

Dr Langan told the inquiry he had been “reassured” by Mr Clarke about the discrepancies.

Dr Lyons said Mr Clarke told him paramedics were called and diagnosed a “vasovagal attack”.

The GP, who said he has “no clear recollection” of his appointment with Mr Clarke at that time, was asked by Solicitor General Lesley Thomson QC if there was any way he could have taken down the wrong version of events given to him. The doctor then
carried out a physical examination – including checking his pulse rate and heart rhythm – but said there was nothing to indicate an abnormality.

Dr Lyons replied: “I now recognise in retrospect and with the benefit of hindsight”.

He said he had been told Clarke had fainted “at work, in canteen, hot environment, no warning signs”.

Glasgow Sheriff Court was told the driver was “on his last legs” at the firm after repeated sick days prior to his blackout in April 2010.