Driver behind Hunter Valley bus crash that killed 10 to fight sentence
Ten people died when a bus flipped on Wine Country Drive near Greta on the way back from a wedding reception on June 11, 2023.
Bus driver Brett Button had taken 'significantly more' than his prescribed dose of the opioid-based painkiller Tramadol on the day of the horrific crash.
He'd also been stood down by a previous employer just a year prior after a pain specialist found he was addicted to Tramadol — which he'd been taking since the 1990s — and he did not tell operator Linq Buslines he was using the painkiller.
Button initially faced 10 counts of manslaughter, however; they were ultimately dropped after prosecutors agreed to a plea deal, much to the anger of the victims' families.
He pleaded guilty to 10 counts of dangerous driving occasioning death and nine of dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm.
Button was sentenced to 32 years behind bars with a non-parole period of 24 years last year.
However, he has since moved to fight the sentence, with the matter heard briefly in Sydney's Court of Criminal Appeal on Thursday morning.
The Crown prosecutor told the court that it was an 'unusual matter'.
'It is only a sentence appeal – I don't use the word only lightly,' she told the court.
'There are three grounds of appeal.
'It is an unusual matter.'
The grounds of appeal are expected to be released sometime on Thursday or Friday, registrar Peter Clayton told the court.
She said there would be several victim impact statements in the 'fairly lengthy' Crown bundle.
'As I indicated, a number of victim impact statements, medical reports … quite a volume of documentary evidence,' she said.
She also indicated there'd be character references for Button.
Lawyers for Button didn't expect there to be re-sentencing materials put before the court at this stage.
He is set to front the court via a video link for a hearing on October 3.
Andrew Scott, 35, his wife Lynan Scott, 33, Nadene McBride, 52, her 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, were killed in the crash.
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