0:00:09 > 0:00:14On 22nd December last year, a bin lorry careered out of control
0:00:14 > 0:00:17in the centre of Glasgow.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21For 19 seconds, it ploughed over roads and pavements,
0:00:21 > 0:00:24reaching speeds of up to 25mph.
0:00:24 > 0:00:28When it came to rest, six people were dead, and more than a dozen
0:00:28 > 0:00:31suffered life-changing injuries.
0:00:31 > 0:00:33Tonight, some of the bereaved families accuse the Scottish
0:00:33 > 0:00:36justice system of failing them.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38It wasn't, "Unfortunately, I'm sorry," but it was,
0:00:38 > 0:00:44"Your mum's in the morgue."
0:00:44 > 0:00:47The man had fell through every single safety net that had been put
0:00:47 > 0:00:50in place from the top level, from the Crown, to doctors,
0:00:50 > 0:00:54to Glasgow City Council.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58These six people who died can't be gone.
0:00:58 > 0:01:04They're not here today to speak for themselves.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24Today, George Square bears no evidence
0:01:24 > 0:01:30of the horror that was visited on this place nearly a year ago.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32But the human scars run deep, both through the survivors
0:01:32 > 0:01:36and the families of those who lost their lives.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39As they await the report of the fatal accident inquiry
0:01:39 > 0:01:41into the crash, some of those families have broken their
0:01:41 > 0:01:45silence to question the Crown's approach to the investigation, and
0:01:45 > 0:01:50to ask if they'll ever get justice.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57Scenes of panic, captured on a mobile phone seconds
0:01:57 > 0:02:01after the bin lorry left a trail of destruction along Queen Street
0:02:01 > 0:02:06and George Square.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10I know it's me because I see a handbag which was mine, and I see an
0:02:10 > 0:02:13umbrella which was mine, and I know I could see my feet, so, actually,
0:02:13 > 0:02:19to look at it, it's so surreal.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22Saleswoman Elaine Morell suffered serious facial injuries and still
0:02:22 > 0:02:29can't remember how she came to be caught in the bin lorry's path.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31I instantly was knocked out, so I was unconscious for
0:02:31 > 0:02:37between five and ten minutes.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40I know that.
0:02:40 > 0:02:45It was like a steel door that came crashing down on my head
0:02:45 > 0:02:48and turned out all the lights and I just remember thinking,
0:02:48 > 0:02:54"Oh, right, so that's it, that's the end."
0:02:54 > 0:02:55We had been to the jewellers
0:02:55 > 0:02:59and were on our way back to the train station.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02Neither of us knew Glasgow very well so we retraced our footsteps
0:03:02 > 0:03:07the way we had come.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11Lucy Ewing was on a trip to the city with her mum, Gillian.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13I think we'd come out past the National Galleries,
0:03:13 > 0:03:18and then were walking up Queen Street towards the train station.
0:03:18 > 0:03:23I had heard quite a loud bang but kind of after that I don't really
0:03:23 > 0:03:26remember much other than being on the road and seeing the bin lorry
0:03:26 > 0:03:32come up the street towards my mum.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36And then obviously I saw it hit her.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39A distraught Lucy was taken to a nearby cafe.
0:03:39 > 0:03:40There was just sirens and flashing lights
0:03:40 > 0:03:45and people everywhere.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48Lucy frantically tried to get in touch with her family.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50Lucy just literally said to me on the phone,
0:03:50 > 0:03:52"I don't want to alarm you, but there's been
0:03:52 > 0:03:57a serious accident in Glasgow and I think Mum might be dead."
0:03:59 > 0:04:01A city was in shock.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03As word spread, people were checking on the whereabouts
0:04:03 > 0:04:06of their families and friends.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08I got a phone call to say that
0:04:08 > 0:04:10my mum hadn't been to pick the girls up.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14My partner was in hysterics, saying the last time she'd had
0:04:14 > 0:04:16any feedback from my mum or communication
0:04:16 > 0:04:22from my mum was that she was leaving at half-past two to get the bus.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24Adam Russell's mother, Jackie Morton, worked
0:04:24 > 0:04:27in a tax office in the city centre.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31As the hours passed, he took action.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33I actually proceeded to call the number that came up
0:04:33 > 0:04:39on the screen, then they took us through a whole rigmarole whereby it
0:04:39 > 0:04:42was like, what your mum was wearing, what kind of clothes?
0:04:42 > 0:04:46And it was actually,like, a surreal moment.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49Then hours went past.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52For some people, their loved ones wouldn't be coming home.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54Hundreds of emergency workers were drafted
0:04:54 > 0:05:00in to take control and start the investigation into what happened.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02The crash had happened at lunchtime and families fearing
0:05:02 > 0:05:05the worst could only wait.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18It was ten o'clock in the evening before Adam Russell
0:05:18 > 0:05:22received a phone call from police.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25He said, "Just to let you know, Mr Russell, we've phoned
0:05:25 > 0:05:30around all the hospitals and your mum's not there, so there's
0:05:30 > 0:05:32a possibility she's at the Square."
0:05:32 > 0:05:35And I said, "What do you mean, she's at the Square?"
0:05:35 > 0:05:38She said, "There's a possibility she could be one of the victims
0:05:38 > 0:05:40that's lying at George Square.
0:05:40 > 0:05:45Would you like us to send a colleague over to speak with you?
0:05:45 > 0:05:49They wouldn't be able to get there until about 12 o'clock at night.
0:05:49 > 0:05:55Or would you rather just leave it until tomorrow?"
0:05:57 > 0:05:59The Ewing sisters said they encountered similar police
0:05:59 > 0:06:05insensitivity as they waited in Glasgow City Chambers.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08He said, "We've just heard back from all the hospitals
0:06:08 > 0:06:12and we can confirm that your mum is not on the list of people who are
0:06:12 > 0:06:17in the hospital, therefore she must be one of the ones in the morgue."
0:06:17 > 0:06:19That is how we were told.
0:06:19 > 0:06:20That was pretty much the exact words.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23In the morgue? In the morgue.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25So it wasn't, "Unfortunately, I'm sorry, but..."
0:06:25 > 0:06:31It was, "Your mum's in the morgue."
0:06:37 > 0:06:39When we put this to Police Scotland, they said that
0:06:39 > 0:06:42in such a major incident everyone is affected and working under extreme
0:06:42 > 0:06:45pressure, and that they were sorry for any anguish caused and had
0:06:45 > 0:06:50learned from the experience.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53Six people lost their lives that day.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57Jackie Morton, a tax worker and grandmother of two from Glasgow.
0:06:57 > 0:07:02Gillian Ewing, from Edinburgh, who had been living in Cyprus.
0:07:02 > 0:07:0618-year-old English literature student Erin McQuade.
0:07:06 > 0:07:12Her grandparents, Lorraine and Jack Sweeney, who lived in Dumbarton.
0:07:12 > 0:07:13And 29-year-old primary school teacher
0:07:13 > 0:07:17Stephenie Tait, from Glasgow.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28The driver of the bin lorry, just visible on the left
0:07:28 > 0:07:30of the screen, was 58-year-old Harry Clarke, who had worked
0:07:30 > 0:07:34for the council for four years.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37He told an off-duty nurse who came to help him
0:07:37 > 0:07:39that he hadn't blacked out, but that last thing he remembered
0:07:39 > 0:07:43was sitting at the lights.
0:07:43 > 0:07:48I felt so sorry for the bin lorry driver and his colleagues,
0:07:48 > 0:07:56for those poor men to have witnessed such a devastating incident,
0:07:56 > 0:08:01and I actually was worrying.
0:08:01 > 0:08:08I worried that the bin lorry driver would be so distraught that...
0:08:08 > 0:08:11that how could he cope with it?
0:08:13 > 0:08:23The tragedy cast a shadow over any festivities as a city mourned.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25Out of respect, the Christmas lights were switched off.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28Strangers paid tribute.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31But some of the bereaved families were already beginning to question
0:08:31 > 0:08:34the sympathy for Harry Clarke.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37They felt there was more to the crash than just
0:08:37 > 0:08:39an unavoidable accident.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43I actually couldn't sleep at night, the time it had happened.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46So I actually took to Google Images just basically to see
0:08:46 > 0:08:51if there was an image of my mum lying on that street.
0:08:51 > 0:08:52Horrific.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54When I was scrolling through the pictures,
0:08:54 > 0:08:59I actually seen Harry Clarke climbing out of the bin lorry.
0:08:59 > 0:09:05So then I started to ask questions with both the police and CID.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08I said, "I've got this picture on my iPad."
0:09:08 > 0:09:12I said, "I believe it to be the driver of the bin lorry."
0:09:12 > 0:09:15They dismissed it and said there's no way that could've been the man.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17This man was gravely ill in a hospital bed
0:09:17 > 0:09:21and he has been since the accident.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25The Ewing sisters also questioned
0:09:25 > 0:09:29the circumstances surrounding the crash.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31After we'd been told that mum had been killed, I had obviously lashed
0:09:31 > 0:09:37out a little, but had obviously said something about the driver having
0:09:37 > 0:09:40had a heart attack and the police instantly said, "I don't know where
0:09:40 > 0:09:45you've heard that from, but that's not what happened."
0:09:45 > 0:09:47Did he say what happened?
0:09:47 > 0:09:50No, didn't say anything, all they said was they weren't able
0:09:50 > 0:09:52to tell us anything but they could confirm that
0:09:52 > 0:09:55the driver had not had a heart attack.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00If Harry Clarke had a heart condition, he may not have
0:10:00 > 0:10:03been safe to drive a heavy vehicle.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07The question was, had a crime been committed?
0:10:09 > 0:10:11Brian McConnachie is a former senior prosecutor.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14He says thorough scrutiny of Harry Clarke's medical history
0:10:14 > 0:10:17should have been key.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21The issue, in my opinion, if you were prosecuting it, would be
0:10:21 > 0:10:26to establish firstly that he had a medical condition, secondly that he
0:10:26 > 0:10:31knew about that medical condition, and thirdly that he had effectively
0:10:31 > 0:10:35covered up the fact of that medical condition in order
0:10:35 > 0:10:39that it would not be disclosed to DVLA or to his employers, which
0:10:39 > 0:10:45would presumably have prevented him driving on the day in question.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47The investigation worked quickly.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50At the end of February, nine weeks after what happened here,
0:10:50 > 0:10:56the Crown made an announcement.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59This news release from the Crown says that after a Crown Office
0:10:59 > 0:11:03directed police inquiry, independent Crown Counsel decided
0:11:03 > 0:11:07there was no evidence to suggest Harry Clarke had broken the law.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11The Crown decided not to prosecute.
0:11:11 > 0:11:16I think there was a general outpouring, I suppose, of grief at
0:11:16 > 0:11:19the time because of the place where it happened, the circumstances that
0:11:19 > 0:11:25occurred, and the time of the year, and that appears to have driven
0:11:25 > 0:11:31the Crown Office to make decisions as quickly as they could.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34Generally, these things tend to take quite a long time.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37As an average, it would be probably something
0:11:37 > 0:11:41in the region of about nine months between the time of the accident
0:11:41 > 0:11:44and the police reporting the matter, and the matter actually being
0:11:44 > 0:11:50proceeded to court, if appropriate.
0:11:50 > 0:11:58A Fatal Accident Inquiry into the crash was quickly convened.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01The purpose of an inquiry isn't to lay blame,
0:12:01 > 0:12:05but to investigate and learn lessons.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07The families had steeled themselves for what they regarded
0:12:07 > 0:12:11as a necessary ordeal that might bring them some answers.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15The family of school teacher Stephenie Tait
0:12:15 > 0:12:18was represented by Ronnie Conway.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21The one thing that the Taits have said to me consistently is that if
0:12:21 > 0:12:27anything emerges from this tragedy, and the Fatal Accident Inquiry, it's
0:12:27 > 0:12:31that no other family has to endure what they have endured and what
0:12:31 > 0:12:36they know the other families are having to go through.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40And it was clear from the outset that with
0:12:40 > 0:12:47Harry Clarke, we're really not dealing with a criminal mastermind.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50And the question for them was, how had such
0:12:50 > 0:13:00a person managed to manipulate and game the system with such ease?
0:13:02 > 0:13:04But some of those also acutely affected by the tragedy felt
0:13:04 > 0:13:08ignored by the investigation.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11Marie Weatherall had suffered multiple fractures in the crash
0:13:11 > 0:13:14and spent four weeks in hospital.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17I felt like a spectator in my own life, that all this
0:13:17 > 0:13:25stuff's going on outside, nobody ever contacted me about anything.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27I had one letter from the Procurator Fiscal's office saying
0:13:27 > 0:13:31I might be called as a witness, I might not be called as a witness,
0:13:31 > 0:13:33but they'd let me know.
0:13:33 > 0:13:39Well, they never did, and everything that I ever found out subsequent to
0:13:39 > 0:13:42the accident, I found out myself.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45The inquiry was to take five weeks and involved more than
0:13:45 > 0:13:48500 witness statements.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50We've managed to acquire some of the medical and employment
0:13:50 > 0:13:55records, hospital records and expert opinion used in court.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58They run to thousands of pages.
0:13:58 > 0:14:03Did the Crown know all of this when it decided not to prosecute?
0:14:05 > 0:14:08Day by day, the inquiry laid bare failings involving the DVLA and its
0:14:08 > 0:14:11system of medical self-reporting.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15What you've got, in effect, is a system which relies exclusively
0:14:15 > 0:14:21on the honesty and integrity of the applicant.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23Where you're dealing with professional drivers,
0:14:23 > 0:14:30whose livelihood is at stake, seems to me that the temptation to
0:14:30 > 0:14:35conceal or not disclose medical incidents is simply colossal.
0:14:35 > 0:14:40That is a system that is dysfunctional.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43The attempt to get to the truth behind the tragedy
0:14:43 > 0:14:45in George Square repeatedly returned to Harry Clarke's fitness
0:14:45 > 0:14:52to be employed as a driver.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55Some of the stuff that was coming out, it was just absolutely
0:14:55 > 0:14:59unbelievable that this guy was still able to be driving anything,
0:14:59 > 0:15:01never mind a 26-tonne bin lorry.
0:15:01 > 0:15:07It just brought everything back and much, much worse,
0:15:07 > 0:15:16because I just expected the truth at the Fatal Accident Inquiry,
0:15:16 > 0:15:22that we all had expected to hear, and that isn't what happened.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24It was the entire medical history that came out.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27I just remember sitting that day and they were talking about episodes
0:15:27 > 0:15:31of stress and dizziness and other vasovagal attacks dating
0:15:31 > 0:15:35back from late 1970s.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39If you've had that many episodes of fainting or dizziness, it beggars
0:15:39 > 0:15:48belief, to be honest, that someone is able to still drive after.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50Within Harry Clarke's long and complex medical records was
0:15:50 > 0:15:55a blackout in 2010 when he was a driver with First Bus.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59Harry Clarke told his doctor he blacked out in a canteen.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02These are the guidelines given to doctors by the DVLA.
0:16:02 > 0:16:07If it is a simple faint, they don't need to be notified.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10Based on the canteen story he was told, Harry Clarke's doctor
0:16:10 > 0:16:13determined it was a simple faint.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15But during the inquiry, it was revealed
0:16:15 > 0:16:25it may have happened on a bus.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29If it emerged that Mr Clarke had slumped at the wheel of a bus,
0:16:29 > 0:16:31there's really not much doubt that this was
0:16:31 > 0:16:32a notifiable incident to the DVLA.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35There's really not much doubt in terms of the DVLA protocols that
0:16:35 > 0:16:41Mr Clarke would have lost his LGV licence for probably about a year.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45He would not have been able to apply for a job with Glasgow City Council,
0:16:45 > 0:16:47which he did later on in 2010.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49He would not have been at the wheel
0:16:49 > 0:16:58of a Glasgow City Council bin lorry in December 2014.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01A bus inspector's report, taken at the time of the faint,
0:17:01 > 0:17:03records it happened on a bus, not in a canteen.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07The inquiry unearthed a paper trail of Harry Clarke's driving
0:17:07 > 0:17:11declarations to the DVLA and his employers, revealing his dishonesty
0:17:11 > 0:17:15about his fitness to drive.
0:17:15 > 0:17:21He never disclosed that he had suffered a blackout or dizziness.
0:17:21 > 0:17:26As the inquiry continued, it became clear that the only man
0:17:26 > 0:17:30who could answer these allegations of lying was Harry Clarke.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32But two of the families had raised the possibility
0:17:32 > 0:17:37of pursuing a private prosecution.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40This threat meant Harry Clarke was advised not to comment on anything
0:17:40 > 0:17:42which might prove incriminating.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45On the run-up to the day, me especially, I was very unsure as to
0:17:45 > 0:17:49whether or not I was going to go.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52I didn't really want to be in the same room as him
0:17:52 > 0:17:55but then I also wanted to hear what he had to say.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57It was one of the most harrowing days of our lives.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01I mean, having to sit there and listen to him continually say,
0:18:01 > 0:18:02"I don't wish to answer that.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05I don't wish to answer that. I don't wish to answer that."
0:18:05 > 0:18:07And then every time he did go to answer something,
0:18:07 > 0:18:10his solicitors stand up and say, "Don't answer that."
0:18:10 > 0:18:14It was extraordinary, you know, to hear him not say anything, and
0:18:14 > 0:18:21then he gave his side of the story.
0:18:21 > 0:18:27And, you know, it was just like he was a victim as well, really.
0:18:28 > 0:18:33On August 28th, the Fatal Accident Inquiry ended.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36It had heard 27 days of evidence, often suggesting
0:18:36 > 0:18:41Harry Clarke was a man who had persistently and deliberately lied.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44His own lawyer had described him as an ordinary man, with
0:18:44 > 0:18:47the failings of an ordinary man.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54We've been in touch with Harry Clarke.
0:18:54 > 0:18:56For the first time, he revealed his feelings about that day,
0:18:56 > 0:18:58in a letter through his lawyer.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34Hours after the inquiry closed, the Lord Advocate took the unusual
0:19:34 > 0:19:39decision to publicly reaffirm his decision not to prosecute.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43He was interviewed by BBC Scotland's Reevel Alderson.
0:19:43 > 0:19:48We have to take hard decisions and a cold analysis of the evidence.
0:19:48 > 0:19:53We did it as quickly as we could without compromising thoroughness.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57There is no evidence which has come out at the Fatal Accident Inquiry
0:19:57 > 0:20:02which the Crown were not aware of when the major decisions were taken.
0:20:02 > 0:20:03You are absolutely clear about that?
0:20:03 > 0:20:05Nothing has come out that you didn't know about?
0:20:05 > 0:20:12Well, what I did was, I checked with the inquiry team to confirm that.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14That is my understanding and that was confirmed to me.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17The fact that the Lord Advocate can still stand there and say,
0:20:17 > 0:20:21"Sometimes you make difficult decisions,
0:20:21 > 0:20:24but I know I made the right one," when they've got hundreds of people
0:20:24 > 0:20:27out in the public screaming at them,
0:20:27 > 0:20:29this guy really should have been convicted for something.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32It just seems incredible that somehow or other, the legal system
0:20:32 > 0:20:36made it possible for that person not to have to account
0:20:36 > 0:20:38for himself, one way or another.
0:20:38 > 0:20:46It's just, to me, that's morally wrong.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49The Crown was clear - its February decision not to
0:20:49 > 0:20:50prosecute was the right one.
0:20:50 > 0:20:55But some of the families were questioning that and asking
0:20:55 > 0:20:58if they would ever get justice.
0:20:58 > 0:21:03Back in February, when it decided not to prosecute,
0:21:03 > 0:21:04a news release from the Crown announced
0:21:04 > 0:21:06David Green would be leading preparation
0:21:06 > 0:21:08for the Fatal Accident Inquiry.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12As head of the Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit, he had been
0:21:12 > 0:21:15involved in the Crown's response to the tragedy from an early stage.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19Just over two weeks later, David Green held separate
0:21:19 > 0:21:22face-to-face meetings with the families to explain
0:21:22 > 0:21:26the independent Crown Counsel decision.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29David Green proceeded to tell us that Mr Clarke had had
0:21:29 > 0:21:34a one-off episode which occurred in April 2010, whereby he'd fainted
0:21:34 > 0:21:40in a canteen, in a hot environment, and this was a one-off event.
0:21:40 > 0:21:46He then proceeded to tell us that in 2012,
0:21:46 > 0:21:52when he went for his DVLA renewal as part of his HGV renewal, he answered
0:21:52 > 0:21:58"no" to, "Have you ever blacked out or lost or impaired consciousness?"
0:21:58 > 0:22:01Well, he's obviously lied on that question,
0:22:01 > 0:22:04because you've just said there he'd had a blackout in a canteen.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07He then proceeded to tell me very abruptly, argumentative, that we
0:22:07 > 0:22:09were comparing apples and pears.
0:22:09 > 0:22:14The families say it was described to them as a simple faint in a canteen.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17Such a faint, while standing up,
0:22:17 > 0:22:21would not have been notifiable to the DVLA.
0:22:21 > 0:22:26The Ewing sisters also questioned why this apparent lie
0:22:26 > 0:22:28didn't warrant prosecution.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30I had obviously said, "So, he lied."
0:22:30 > 0:22:32David Green said, "No, he didn't tell the truth."
0:22:32 > 0:22:35I said, "That's the exact same thing as lying."
0:22:35 > 0:22:38And I was promptly told, "The thing you don't know about
0:22:38 > 0:22:42Mr Clarke is he's a fat, uneducated man from the West of Scotland
0:22:42 > 0:22:45and doesn't know any better."
0:22:45 > 0:22:50Now, I'm not defending Harry Clarke, but that's not a very nice thing
0:22:50 > 0:22:54to say about anybody, and it's not very professional either.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57It's what we were told as to why he ticked "no"
0:22:57 > 0:22:59on a form, instead of ticking "yes".
0:22:59 > 0:23:01Because he's fat and uneducated.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04It also suggests that there are different standards of criminality,
0:23:04 > 0:23:08depending on how smart you are.
0:23:08 > 0:23:10So because I've been to university, I wouldn't get away with ticking
0:23:10 > 0:23:16a form wrong, because I would know better - but if I hadn't,
0:23:16 > 0:23:20then I'm allowed, what, leeway on getting these things right?
0:23:20 > 0:23:24That doesn't make any sense.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27Adam Russell said it was some weeks later when his lawyers were sent
0:23:27 > 0:23:29productions from the Crown that he learned of another version
0:23:29 > 0:23:35of the blackout, that Harry Clarke had fainted at the wheel of a bus.
0:23:35 > 0:23:39He's had a more or less mirror image of an event, whereby he's fainted
0:23:39 > 0:23:43behind the wheel of a large vehicle.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47This version of the blackout was, according to the Crown,
0:23:47 > 0:23:49the true account of what happened.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51Harry Clarke had fainted on a bus with passengers on it,
0:23:51 > 0:23:55not in a canteen.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57Under the DVLA guidance, a faint while sitting
0:23:57 > 0:24:01and at the wheel is a notifiable incident.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03Adam believed this made Harry Clarke's omissions to his employers
0:24:03 > 0:24:06and the DVLA far more serious.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09He said he had a growing suspicion the Crown had
0:24:09 > 0:24:12missed the significance of Harry Clarke's faint on a bus when they
0:24:12 > 0:24:13made the decision not to prosecute.
0:24:13 > 0:24:18He made an official complaint.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21The response was that Mr Green couldn't actually recall that he had
0:24:21 > 0:24:27said that Mr Clarke had fainted in the canteen in a hot environment
0:24:27 > 0:24:30and that he had actually stated that Mr Clarke had fainted whilst having
0:24:30 > 0:24:33his lunch on a stationary bus.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37And you, your father, your mother's sister, and two members
0:24:37 > 0:24:43of your legal team heard otherwise? Yep.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46We were specifically told he passed out in a canteen.
0:24:46 > 0:24:51Nothing, no mention of on a bus.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53The response to Adam Russell's complaint said David Green did not
0:24:53 > 0:24:56"recall having made reference to an incident in a canteen",
0:24:56 > 0:25:02although his colleague "thinks he may have done so".
0:25:02 > 0:25:11And it's not just the families of Gillian Ewing and Jackie Morton,
0:25:11 > 0:25:14but all the bereaved families are certain David Green made no mention
0:25:14 > 0:25:18of a loss of consciousness on a bus in those individual March meetings.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20They are all certain he told them it happened in a canteen.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23This poses the question of why the Crown, at those meetings,
0:25:23 > 0:25:28only offered the canteen version of events.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32We asked David Green for an interview, but he declined.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35The Crown Office said in a statement that David Green had
0:25:35 > 0:25:37been "fully aware" that "the driver had a previous faint
0:25:37 > 0:25:39on a bus" when he met the families.
0:25:39 > 0:25:41It said David Green had extensive experience
0:25:41 > 0:25:44and categorically denies using offensive terms.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47It added that there were conflicting accounts from different sources
0:25:47 > 0:25:50of the faint, but it had been clear to Crown Counsel that the primary
0:25:50 > 0:25:53account was of the driver fainting in a stationary bus.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07I feel very let down.
0:26:07 > 0:26:13If, by law, he couldn't be charged,
0:26:13 > 0:26:20I think there needs to be changes then made to the law.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22If the Crown Office had decided to prosecute Harry Clarke,
0:26:22 > 0:26:30what charges might have been considered?
0:26:30 > 0:26:33The prosecution, if it was deemed appropriate, would be based upon the
0:26:33 > 0:26:36fact that Mr Clarke had a knowledge of a medical condition from which he
0:26:36 > 0:26:45suffered, and the real problem is not the fact that he knew he was
0:26:45 > 0:26:47going to have an attack that day.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51The real problem is, he did not know when he was going to have an attack.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54And if you could establish that, then, in my opinion, that would be
0:26:54 > 0:26:56certainly providing a case to answer for dangerous driving.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59We asked the Lord Advocate for an interview.
0:26:59 > 0:27:00He declined.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03In a statement, the Crown Office reiterated their position...
0:27:23 > 0:27:30I do think that the Crown Office rushed to a decision in this
0:27:30 > 0:27:34particular case and I suspect if they had their life to live over
0:27:34 > 0:27:39again and had heard all of the information that came out of the
0:27:39 > 0:27:42Fatal Accident Inquiry, the decision in relation to Mr Clarke may well
0:27:42 > 0:27:44have been something different.
0:27:44 > 0:27:49Do you think they're regretting granting him immunity?
0:27:49 > 0:27:52I suspect they're regretting the fact that they decided
0:27:52 > 0:27:59not to consider prosecution.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02The families we've spoken to believe that there are hundreds of
0:28:02 > 0:28:07Harry Clarkes out there, taking risks and preserving their careers
0:28:07 > 0:28:12with no enforced deterrents.
0:28:12 > 0:28:14They question what justice has been achieved after
0:28:14 > 0:28:16a criminal investigation and a long and painful Fatal Accident Inquiry.
0:28:16 > 0:28:21But, above all, they hope something is done to tackle the human
0:28:21 > 0:28:23and system failings that contributed to the bin lorry crash, in
0:28:23 > 0:28:28the hope that no other family has to go through what they have endured.