Lorry driver ‘not lying’

The driver of the bin lorry that killed six people in Glasgow just before Christmas did not set out to “inflict such unimaginable loss”, an inquiry has heard on the day that it closed.

Harry Clarke, 58, lost consciousness at the wheel of the truck on December 22 last year. His lawyer told the fatal accident inquiry at Glasgow Sheriff Court that Mr Clarke “is not a lying or deceitful man. He is a very ordinary man who has the failings of ordinary men. He will carry this with him for the rest of his days,” said counsel Paul Reid.

Mr Reid made the submission shortly before Sheriff John Beckett brought the inquiry to a close, advising he would hope to issue a written determination by January. As the inquiry ended, lord advocate Frank Mulholland defended the decision not to prosecute Mr Clarke, stating he has “no doubt that the decision was the correct one in law”.