What a Coward! (31/10/15)
The Glasgow bin lorry driver whose collapse at the wheel of his vehicle caused the deaths of six people has resigned, rather than face a disciplinary hearing where he would have been asked to explain his failure to report his dangerous driving history.
What a coward!
Glasgow bin lorry crash: Driver resigns from council job
The driver of a bin lorry which crashed in Glasgow, killing six people, has resigned from his council job.
Harry Clarke, 58, was due to attend a disciplinary hearing on Friday but the council received his resignation letter earlier in the day.
The hearing was called after it emerged at the inquiry into the crash that Mr Clarke failed to tell his employers and the DVLA of his history of blackouts.
He was unconscious when the lorry went out of control on 22 December 2014.
Erin McQuade and Jack and Lorraine Sweeney, from Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire, Stephenie Tait, 29, and Jacqueline Morton, 51, both from Glasgow, and Gillian Ewing, 52, from Edinburgh, were killed when the lorry veered out of control during a routine rubbish collection in Glasgow city centre.
Image caption (Clockwise from top left) - Jack Sweeney, Lorraine Sweeney, Erin McQuade, Jacqueline Morton, Stephenie Tait and Gillian Ewing were killed in the crash
The fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into the crash was adjourned at Glasgow Sheriff Court on 28 August by Sheriff John Beckett who is due to report his findings next year.
The inquiry heard that Mr Clarke was unconscious at the wheel when the Glasgow City Council bin lorry veered out of control in Queen Street.
Before it crashed into the side of the Millennium Hotel in George Square, the lorry had killed six people and injured 15 others.
The FAI heard that Mr Clarke had suffered blackouts before - one of which was at the wheel of a bus in 2010.
He did not fully disclose this incident to his own doctors, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) or on application forms or medical declarations for council jobs.
The council is understood to have initiated disciplinary proceedings against Mr Clarke after it emerged at the inquiry that he had not fully disclosed his health issues.
The 58-year-old resigned before the hearing was due to take place on Friday.
The fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into the crash was adjourned at Glasgow Sheriff Court on 28 August by Sheriff John Beckett who is due to report his findings next year.
The inquiry heard that Mr Clarke was unconscious at the wheel when the Glasgow City Council bin lorry veered out of control in Queen Street.
Before it crashed into the side of the Millennium Hotel in George Square, the lorry had killed six people and injured 15 others.
The FAI heard that Mr Clarke had suffered blackouts before - one of which was at the wheel of a bus in 2010.
He did not fully disclose this incident to his own doctors, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) or on application forms or medical declarations for council jobs.
The council is understood to have initiated disciplinary proceedings against Mr Clarke after it emerged at the inquiry that he had not fully disclosed his health issues.
The 58-year-old resigned before the hearing was due to take place on Friday.
