Wall of Silence
I have to agree with John Morton, the brother of one of the victims of the terrible bin lorry crash, which occurred in Glasgow just before Christmas.
What can possibly be taking the authorities so long to make a proper statement putting the facts of what happened into the public domain.
The City Council has been accused of erecting a 'wall of silence' around these events which seems an apt description to me, so well done to The Daily Record for taking up John Morton's case.
I wrote a post on this very subject back on 8 January 2015 and if you ask me, it's a disgrace that bereaved families and the wider public are being treated this way.
Glasgow bin lorry tragedy: Brother of gran killed in horror crash accuses council of 'wall of silence' as he demands answers
By Sally Hind - The Daily Record
JACQUELINE Morton's brother John says he has resorted to asking bin crews on the street for information because Glasgow City Council have failed to respond to his requests for answers.
THE brother of a gran killed in Glasgow’s bin lorry tragedy yesterday accused the council of a “wall of silence”.
John Morton, 52, says he has pictured the horror which claimed the life of 51-year-old Jacqueline and five others every day since the disaster.
But he cannot understand how it happened and he says the city council have failed to respond to his requests for answers about the disaster .
John, a former bin lorry driver himself, added that he expected to hear first-hand accounts of the tragedy in the days that followed the crash on December 22.
But he has now resorted to asking bin crews on the street for the information he is desperately searching for.
He said: “We have had no answers from the council. We’ve phoned several times. It’s like a wall of silence.
“At this stage I would at least expect to have heard testimonials from the people in the lorry, as a relative of one of the victims, but there’s nothing.
“I want the council to realise we are not daft and we won’t just accept the lack of
information they’re giving us.
“I have even gone up to the bin crews in the street and said, ‘Do you know what’s happening?’ There’s nothing.
“I know my sister and she would be kicking down doors to get answers if it was me. She was the strong one.
“She wouldn’t sit back and see what we’re seeing, she would want to know exactly what happened to her brother and why. She would fight tooth and nail for it.”
HMRC/PA Wire - Victim Jacqueline Morton
John, who was brought up in Easterhouse, Glasgow, also defended the right of newspapers to name the lorry driver – because he believes it is important in the interests of complete transparency.
Tax worker Jacqueline, a Glasgow mum of two, died alongside teacher Stephenie Tait, 29, Erin McQuade, 18, Erin’s grandad Jack Sweeney, 69, Jack’s 68-year-old wife Lorraine and Gillian Ewing, 52 .
She was on her way to collect her grandchildren when she was struck by the truck as it careered down Glasgow’s Queen Street before crashing into the Millennium Hotel.
She left behind a partner John Connelly, 53, her two grown-up sons, Adam and Scott, and an elderly mother.
John, who helped carry Jacqueline’s coffin at her funeral earlier this month, said the lorry should never have been able to reach the speeds reported by several witnesses at the scene.
He said: “It beggars belief that it was allegedly seen reaching speeds of at least 60mph. Trucks being used in built-up public areas as congested as Glasgow city centre should be limited to 45mph at the most.
“The council has a duty of care to the people of Glasgow. If it had been limited, I’m sure there would not have been so many lives lost.
“People would have been undoubtedly been saved that day if it was going slower.
“I can’t sit and wait for the recommendations of a report to come. The council are the ones who hold the information.”
John, who lives near Macclesfield, Cheshire, has had a 30-year career driving lorries and heavy goods vehicles and spent a year behind the wheel of bin lorries. He said: “The driver was doing a public service and I take my hat off to him for that.
“I do understand tragedies happen. I just wish I could understand it a bit more. It’s not making sense to me.
“I’ve been sitting in my truck for two weeks since I returned to work just going over and over it in my head and trying to think of the scenarios.
“I picture it in my head all the time. I just can’t see in my experience with heavy vehicles, how it has managed to travel that distance.
“The other crew members must have been terrified.”
It has been widely suspected that the driver of the truck suffered a heart attack at the wheel
John said he had expected the families of the victims to be updated on his condition following the accident but has still had no confirmation of whether he fell ill.
He said: “It has never been confirmed to the family that it was a heart attack. It has always been suspected.
“I would have liked more information on his condition and treatment.
“I would also like to know more about the movements of the lorry before the incident, what route they took, how long they had been working.
“I’m sure the driver is deeply traumatised and I’m sure he can’t be sleeping at night.
“If the shoe was on the other foot and I was the driver, I would be desperate to come out and explain what happened. I would have to say something.”
When asked if he felt sympathy for the driver, John said: “I’m not able to answer that yet because I don’t have all the information.
“He would have been getting thrown around in the impact as it moved – but why wouldn’t his foot have moved off that pedal?
“I think he could have got his steel-capped boot jammed under the pedal and when he has got free, he has tried to control it.
“It looks like it has slowed. If it had continued at that rate, it would have ended up on platform 3 in Queen Street but there was just a crack where it got the hotel.
“The general public might not understand and be able to accept this but with me doing the job I do, it just doesn’t make sense.”
John was at work in Cheshire when he received the call from his family to tell him that Jacqueline had died.
He said: “I had seen it unfolding on the news and thought, ‘Oh those poor people, just before Christmas.’
“It wasn’t until I got the call the next day that I knew. I was standing in work with the newspaper in my hand.
“He told me and I looked down at the picture on the front of the paper. I just ran out of work.
“Jacqueline and I were really close as kids. People used to think we were twins. I have been living away a long time and we remained close. But as you have children and families you have less time to spend together.
“I have been coming to Glasgow over the last few weeks to support my family and I carried Jacqueline’s coffin at her funeral. It is so hard to deal with when you don’t have the answers you need.”
John wept as he told of his o verwhelming gratitude for the people who went to the aid of his sister and the other victims .
He said: “I have seen clips of the people who cared at the scene and I really want to thank them from the bottom of my heart.
“They must be mentally scarred by what they saw. I want to thank those people who were there for helping the injured, for caring for the dying and for praying for the dead.”
John, who was brought up in Easterhouse, Glasgow, also defended the right of newspapers to name the lorry driver – because he believes it is important in the interests of complete transparency.
Tax worker Jacqueline, a Glasgow mum of two, died alongside teacher Stephenie Tait, 29, Erin McQuade, 18, Erin’s grandad Jack Sweeney, 69, Jack’s 68-year-old wife Lorraine and Gillian Ewing, 52 .
She was on her way to collect her grandchildren when she was struck by the truck as it careered down Glasgow’s Queen Street before crashing into the Millennium Hotel.
She left behind a partner John Connelly, 53, her two grown-up sons, Adam and Scott, and an elderly mother.
John, who helped carry Jacqueline’s coffin at her funeral earlier this month, said the lorry should never have been able to reach the speeds reported by several witnesses at the scene.
He said: “It beggars belief that it was allegedly seen reaching speeds of at least 60mph. Trucks being used in built-up public areas as congested as Glasgow city centre should be limited to 45mph at the most.
“The council has a duty of care to the people of Glasgow. If it had been limited, I’m sure there would not have been so many lives lost.
“People would have been undoubtedly been saved that day if it was going slower.
“I can’t sit and wait for the recommendations of a report to come. The council are the ones who hold the information.”
John, who lives near Macclesfield, Cheshire, has had a 30-year career driving lorries and heavy goods vehicles and spent a year behind the wheel of bin lorries. He said: “The driver was doing a public service and I take my hat off to him for that.
“I do understand tragedies happen. I just wish I could understand it a bit more. It’s not making sense to me.
“I’ve been sitting in my truck for two weeks since I returned to work just going over and over it in my head and trying to think of the scenarios.
“I picture it in my head all the time. I just can’t see in my experience with heavy vehicles, how it has managed to travel that distance.
“The other crew members must have been terrified.”
It has been widely suspected that the driver of the truck suffered a heart attack at the wheel
John said he had expected the families of the victims to be updated on his condition following the accident but has still had no confirmation of whether he fell ill.
He said: “It has never been confirmed to the family that it was a heart attack. It has always been suspected.
“I would have liked more information on his condition and treatment.
“I would also like to know more about the movements of the lorry before the incident, what route they took, how long they had been working.
“I’m sure the driver is deeply traumatised and I’m sure he can’t be sleeping at night.
“If the shoe was on the other foot and I was the driver, I would be desperate to come out and explain what happened. I would have to say something.”
When asked if he felt sympathy for the driver, John said: “I’m not able to answer that yet because I don’t have all the information.
“He would have been getting thrown around in the impact as it moved – but why wouldn’t his foot have moved off that pedal?
“I think he could have got his steel-capped boot jammed under the pedal and when he has got free, he has tried to control it.
“It looks like it has slowed. If it had continued at that rate, it would have ended up on platform 3 in Queen Street but there was just a crack where it got the hotel.
“The general public might not understand and be able to accept this but with me doing the job I do, it just doesn’t make sense.”
John was at work in Cheshire when he received the call from his family to tell him that Jacqueline had died.
He said: “I had seen it unfolding on the news and thought, ‘Oh those poor people, just before Christmas.’
“It wasn’t until I got the call the next day that I knew. I was standing in work with the newspaper in my hand.
“He told me and I looked down at the picture on the front of the paper. I just ran out of work.
“Jacqueline and I were really close as kids. People used to think we were twins. I have been living away a long time and we remained close. But as you have children and families you have less time to spend together.
“I have been coming to Glasgow over the last few weeks to support my family and I carried Jacqueline’s coffin at her funeral. It is so hard to deal with when you don’t have the answers you need.”
John wept as he told of his o verwhelming gratitude for the people who went to the aid of his sister and the other victims .
He said: “I have seen clips of the people who cared at the scene and I really want to thank them from the bottom of my heart.
“They must be mentally scarred by what they saw. I want to thank those people who were there for helping the injured, for caring for the dying and for praying for the dead.”
The Record’s sister paper, the Sunday Mail, told how lorry driver Harry Clarke, 58, passed a full medical in 2012 .
He worked for First Group as a bus driver before joining Glasgow City Council.
In both jobs, he required a Heavy Goods Vehicle driver’s licence which meant regular and rigorous medical examinations.
Drivers must reapply for their licence when they reach their 45th birthday and at five-year intervals after that.
John added: “Five years is too long between medicals in my eyes.
“You could be at the brink of developing a condition when you have your test and it had all those years to develop.”
“The council are the ones in control of the investigation. It’s their employees, their vehicle.
“The crime scene investigation took a couple of days.
“They know what has happened, it then moves to why it has happened. Why are we still waiting?”
He worked for First Group as a bus driver before joining Glasgow City Council.
In both jobs, he required a Heavy Goods Vehicle driver’s licence which meant regular and rigorous medical examinations.
Drivers must reapply for their licence when they reach their 45th birthday and at five-year intervals after that.
John added: “Five years is too long between medicals in my eyes.
“You could be at the brink of developing a condition when you have your test and it had all those years to develop.”
“The council are the ones in control of the investigation. It’s their employees, their vehicle.
“The crime scene investigation took a couple of days.
“They know what has happened, it then moves to why it has happened. Why are we still waiting?”
