Bus driver to break silence over deadly Hunter Valley wedding crash

Brett Andrew Button, 58, the bus driver from the Hunter Valley crash where 10 people died, leaves Cessnock Police Station after the court granted him bail with strict conditions on June 13, 2023 in Cessnock, Australia. Photo / Getty Images

After two days of silence as devastated survivors shared their grief, the man who caused the Hunter Valley bus crash will enter the tear-soaked witness box himself.

Brett Andrew Button, 59, is facing years in prison after losing control of a coach full of elated wedding guests, killing 10, in one of the nation’s worst road incidents.

The painkiller-addled driver had been driving dangerously at the time.

Button, who has apologised through media, is expected to give evidence on Wednesday in Newcastle District Court ahead of his scheduled sentence.

Survivors have spent this week in court telling of the June 2023 night that changed their lives.

One survivor, who demanded Button stop bowing his head and look his victims’ families in the eyes, recalled the driver having his hands in his pockets at the crash scene.

“I had my shirt covering one of my best mate’s heads as he was bleeding to death,” Drew El Moussalli said.

“My recurring nightmares are a dark reminder of you.

“I get flashbacks of you showing no remorse or care. I regularly get woken up thinking I’m trapped in your bus of hell.”

Jennifer Warren said Button was driving recklessly and showing off before the bus tipped over at a roundabout.

“The bus driver was ... choosing to ignore the yelling and pleading of the passengers asking him to slow down,” Warren told the court.

“Not only did he ignore the pleas, but it felt as though he was accelerating as we approached the roundabout.”

She said this was a tragedy that should never have happened.

“He could have prevented all this loss and pain if he had listened to the pleas of his passengers to slow down.

“But he chose not to.”

Others recalled feeling the bus tip and thinking they would die.

Matt and Leanne Mullen, parents of Bec Mullen, who was killed in the Hunter Valley bus crash in June which claimed 10 lives, leave Newcastle Local Court on August 09, 2023 in Newcastle, Australia. Photo / Getty Images

“The sensation of falling sideways and being completely powerless was terrifying,” front-seat passenger Sharyn Junkeer said.

Her husband Jason Junkeer said he was knocked out and woke covered in glass, metal and debris.

His first thought: “I have to find Sharyn and get out now.”

Junkeer found his wife lying face up on the footpath barely conscious.

He now faces debilitating flashbacks of the “horrendous images, sounds and events I witnessed that night”.

Button, 59, has pleaded guilty to 10 charges of dangerous driving causing death, nine counts of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm and 16 counts of causing bodily harm by wanton driving.

He has apologised for the incident, telling reporters outside court in March he was “devastated by what has occurred” and that he was “truly and deeply sorry”.

Forensic analysts believe Button took 400mg of the opioid Tramadol in the 24 hours before the crash.

The opioid can cause side effects such as drowsiness, mental clouding and visual function deficiencies.

Despite confirmation of Button’s heavy painkiller use, prosecutors withdrew manslaughter charges in exchange for his guilty pleas, angering the families of some of those killed.