Hunter Valley bus driver Brett Button discovers his fate over horror crash that killed 10 people

A bus driver who was behind the wheel of a wedding bus when the bus crashed, killing 10 people and injuring 25 others in New South Wales’ Hunter Valley, has learned his fate after a three-day hearing.

Brett Button, 59, was sentenced to 32 years in prison with a 24-year non-parole period from May 8 by Judge Roy Ellis at Newcastle Crown Court on Wednesday afternoon.

He will be eligible for parole on May 7, 2048.

Button was returning guests from a wedding reception at the Wandin Valley Estate, two hours north of Sydney, to Singleton on June 11, 2023 when the bus overturned at a roundabout near Greta.

In sentencing, Judge Ellis said Button was under the influence of the opioid painkiller tramadol and had “absconded with his responsibility” to his 35 passengers at the time of the crash.

“Words cannot adequately express the pain, anger and grief that permeated the first two days of these proceedings as victim impact statements were read out one after another by and to utterly devastated family members” of the deceased and their bereaved families, Judge Ellis said.

Judge Ellis said that in his 50 years in the legal system he had “never dealt with, seen or even read about a case that caused even remotely such extreme devastation.”

“The surviving passengers described the trauma of their injuries and the images of the crash, with unwanted memories of the carnage still present and easily recalled,” Judge Ellis told the court.

The court was told Button was driving under the influence of the opioid tramadol, was behaving in a risky manner and was driving too fast to negotiate the roundabout.

The Hunter Valley resident had previously given evidence, telling survivors and families of his victims he was “ashamed” of what he had done and that he had committed “the ultimate sin”.

“I can’t forgive myself. I can’t believe I caused this,” he said.

‘I never intended to hurt anyone in my entire life, and now I have committed the greatest sin.

‘I’ve made sure that parents had to bury their children. I’ve done it for so many families.

“I hate myself and I want to disappear.”

Button relapsed during the hours-long interrogation and admitted he had been driving too fast to safely negotiate the roundabout, but denied that prescription opioids had ‘impaired’ his ability to drive.

The court was told that on the day of the horrific accident, Button had taken “significantly more” than the prescribed dose of tramadol, a painkiller that provides short-term relief and is abused like opioids.

When asked if he thought he “knew better” than the doctors who had tried to curb his drug use when he worked as a bus driver, Button admitted after repeated questioning that he did.

In his closing remarks, defence lawyer Paul Rosser KC told Judge Ellis that he would sentence Button for his behaviour entering the roundabout, not for the entire journey.

Prosecutor Katharine Jeffreys said the risk Button posed was only ‘realised’ at that point. The court heard that a passenger had described the ride as ‘like a rollercoaster’.

The court was told that Button had been using tramadol since the 1990s and was dismissed by his previous employer in 2022 after a pain specialist diagnosed him as addicted to the painkiller.

Button pleaded guilty earlier this year to 19 charges, including 10 counts of dangerous driving causing death and nine counts of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm.

At least 40 survivors and families of victims testified in court about the impact of the crash on their lives and the loss of loved ones during two emotional days.

Among them was Graham McBride, whose wife Nadene and daughter Kyah died in the crash. He told Button his “family tree had been cut down” and he “had no life left”.

Survivors of the crash described the devastating impact of the crash and the chronic injuries it left them with, with one woman saying she now suffered a permanent ’tilted head’.

Button suffered a breakdown during his hours-long interrogation and admitted he had been driving too fast to safely negotiate the roundabout, but denied prescription opioids ‘impair’ his driving

The sentencing comes more than 15 months after the horrific crash, one of the worst in New South Wales and Australia, which left the communities of Singleton and the rest of the Hunter Valley in ruins.

Andrew Scott, 35, his wife Lynan Scott, 33, Nadene McBride, 52, 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.

Button was at one point facing a staggering 89 charges, including 10 counts of manslaughter. Those charges were eventually dropped after a settlement with police, angering families.