A wedding bus driver who had taken a considerable amount of pills before getting behind the wheel crashed in Australia’s Hunter Valley, killing ten people and injuring twenty-five more, and a judge has now affirmed his 32-year prison term.
Brett Andrew Button rolled the charter bus he was driving near Greta, New South Wales, on June 11, 2023, as guests were leaving a wedding celebration, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), 9News, and news.com.au.
Ten passengers were slain, including numerous young couples and a mother and daughter, leaving two youngsters orphans. Survivors described the minutes preceding impact as frightening, with one telling 9News that the “sensation of falling sideways and being completely powerless was terrifying.”
Button had taken far more than the authorized maximum dose of the opioid painkiller Tramadol and was speeding as he approached a roundabout, according to ABC, news.com.au, and AAP.
According to court filings, he jokingly told passengers, “This next part’s going to be fun,” before accelerating into the turn. The bus flipped and slid into a railing.
He later told the court that he did not believe he was impaired because he had been taking the medication for years — but prosecutors claimed he knew he was under the drug’s influence because he had previously been fired from a job after his employer discovered he had become addicted, according to 9News and news.com.au.
Button was initially charged with ten counts of manslaughter before prosecutors agreed to a plea deal that reduced the charges.
He pled guilty to 10 counts of hazardous driving resulting in death, nine counts of dangerous driving resulting in serious bodily harm, and 16 counts of driving recklessly and inflicting bodily harm, according to reports.
He was sentenced to 32 years in prison with a 24-year non-parole period, according to the reports.
Adam Bray, whose son Zach Bray was killed in the crash, told ABC he was surprised that more serious charges against the driver were dropped.
“To get a call two days ago, sitting overseas, trying to get on with my healing journey, it is disgusting,” he explained to the newspaper. “I feel bad for this driver’s family. “I don’t pity him because he’s broken the law and killed people unnecessarily.”
Button had taken “significantly in excess” of the approved Tramadol limit and participated in “risk-taking behavior” before to the rollover, according to ABC, news.com.au, and AAP.
According to reports, judges stated that his actions had disastrous consequences, citing widespread devastation among victims and their families.
Button appealed the sentence, claiming it was disproportionate and that the judge erred in determining the tipping point of the bus and his level of impairment.
ABC, 9News, and news.com.au reported that a three-judge panel dismissed the claims and found no “material errors” in the initial verdict. The judges stated that Button “knew that the drug had the potential to impair his ability to drive,” according to ABC.
According to ABC, one judge stated that the crash’s impact was “incalculable and ongoing,” noting that “ten families have lost a member, two young children have been orphaned, five adults have lost their intimate partners, [and] one survivor has lost not only his wife but their only child.”
The families of the dead were relieved when the appeal was dismissed on Friday, November 14.
Adam Bray, who lost his 27-year-old son Zach, told the source that the decision felt like “justice being upheld,” adding that those “who are affected and those who have empathy for the affected parties would believe it is just and it is justice.”
Button will become eligible for parole in 2048.
