A man who says he watched his friend die after their wedding bus crashed in New South Wales’ Hunter Valley, killing 10 people and injuring 25 more, has told the driver his “future has been destroyed”.
Brett Button, 59, appeared at Newcastle District Court on Tuesday after previously pleading guilty to 19 charges including dangerous driving causing death and grievous bodily harm.
Button was transporting guests to a wedding reception at Wandin Valley Estate, two hours north of Sydney, back to Singleton on June 11, 2023 when the bus overturned at a roundabout in Greta.
Taking to the stand to give his impact statement after a day and a half of hearings, one survivor demanded Button look at him before telling him he had been trapped on a “bus from hell”.
“My friends didn’t deserve to die, the others didn’t deserve to die,” he said.
‘The families here do not deserve to be here.
‘My future has been destroyed by your actions. I can no longer be the person I was.
“The intergenerational trauma you have caused is enormous.”
The driver who crashed and killed 10 people and injured 25 more after a wedding in the Hunter Valley, Brett Button (pictured), has given a scathing victim impact statement on Tuesday.
Friends and family of the victims of the accident attended Newcastle District Court (pictured) to hear from those affected by the tragedy.
The deadly bus crash on June 11, 2023 killed 10 people (pictured) and injured 25 more on board.
In a separate statement, another survivor told the court and Button that while the bus driver bore “considerable responsibility, I believe he was let down by systems that have failed us all”.
“The accident was a perfect storm of gaping loopholes, legal loopholes and a lack of communication and information sharing between agencies, all of which lined up to culminate in this tragedy,” he said.
Other survivors detailed injuries they would have suffered throughout their lives as a result of the accident.
One woman said she now lived with chronic pain that included a permanent “head tilt” and her mouth no longer opening fully, causing a level of social isolation she told the court was “suffocating”.
Another survivor described how after more than 50 stitches he now had difficulty explaining to his new friends how he received them and felt guilty about his shame at having survived the accident.
All survivors who gave testimony on Tuesday described scenes of “carnage” after the crash, from shocked and bloodied passengers from serious injuries to the bodies of those who had died.
Zac Bray’s mother, Jacqui Varasdi, and sister, Montana Bray, leave Newcastle Local Court after a second day of victim impact statements
Hunter Valley bus crash survivors Sharyn and Jason Junkeer leave Brett Button’s sentencing hearing after hearing statements from survivors and victims’ families
The man told Button to look at him as he gave evidence at Newcastle District Court, saying his “friends didn’t deserve to die” (pictured: police at the crash)
Earlier on Tuesday, Steve Symons fought back tears as he told Button how his son, Kane, had seized a “second chance” after a childhood injury only to have it “cruelly” robbed from him.
“Kane’s death has shattered our lives. It has left an irreparable void. He was a vibrant and ambitious young man who had been given a second chance at life,” Symons told the court.
“He lived with a deep awareness of how precious life is and made the most of every moment of it. To lose him now, after having been given a second chance at life, is cruel and unjust.”
Zachary Bray was also given a “second chance” after battling stage 3 bowel cancer. His mother Jackie said he “always chose the right path” but did not come home on June 11.
“In many ways, Zac was the perfect kid if there ever was one. He just wanted to please and he did that all his life, making his family, friends and colleagues proud with everything he did,” she said.
‘He and his friends did what they were told: have a plan B. They trusted the bus driver to get them home safely, but my son, who did everything right, still didn’t make it home.
‘Zac received a death sentence, and his family and friends received a life sentence.’
He added that Mr Button had caused huge generational trauma and that their future had been “destroyed” because of the driver’s actions.
At least 35 people are expected to provide witness impact statements in court during a marathon three-day sentencing hearing that began Monday morning before Judge Roy Ellis.
Among those giving evidence on Monday was Graham McBride, whose wife Nadene and daughter Kyah died in the crash. He told Button that without his “girls I have no life anymore”.
“My family tree has been cut down. A father should never have to attend the funeral of his entire family… The most precious thing in my life was savagely taken from me,” McBride said.
Nick Dinakis was also on the bus when it crashed, killing his partner Darcy Bulman. He told the court that since the horrific incident his life was “no longer about living, but about surviving”.
“You killed her. You took away her chance to be a mother. You killed my family, my future wife, my best friend,” Dinakis said of her partner, Bulman, fighting back tears.
In his opening address, Judge Ellis said the sentencing process “was quite unprecedented as never before have so many people died in a car accident.”
Mr Button previously pleaded guilty to 19 charges including dangerous driving occasioning death and grievous bodily harm after the bus overturned on a roundabout following the wedding.
Judge Ellis told the court that emotions were likely to run high during the three-day sentencing process, and that the sheer volume of victim impact statements that would be read aloud would be “disturbing”.
Button is expected to be sentenced by the experienced judge on Wednesday, with up to 60 people representing the victims in attendance and extra facilities prepared for the large media presence.
It comes more than a year after the horrific crash that rocked the communities of Hunter Valley and Singleton.
Andrew Scott, 35, and his wife Lynan Scott, 33, Nadene McBride, 52, their daughter Kyah McBride, 22, and her partner Kane Symons, 21, Darcy Bulman, 30, Rebecca Mullen, 26, Zachary Bray, 29, Tori Cowburn, 29, and Angus Craig, 28, died in the crash.
The incident quickly became one of the state’s (and Australia’s) worst fatal road accidents, and at one point Button faced a staggering 89 charges, including 10 counts of manslaughter.
Prosecutors eventually agreed to a plea deal that resulted in the murder charges being dropped, much to the anger of the families. Button remains in pretrial detention awaiting sentencing.
