Driver who killed 10 passengers in horror wedding bus crash makes shameless legal move

The driver of a bus that crashed and cut short the lives 10 young passengers who had just attended a wedding will appeal against his sentence.

Brett Button, 59, was behind the wheel of the bus as it returned guests from the celebrations when it crashed in NSW’s Hunter Valley on June 11 last year, killing 10 people and injuring 25 more.

On Friday, the NSW Supreme Court confirmed lawyers for Button filed an Intention to Appeal his maximum 32-year jail term sentence, which included a 24-year non-parole period, to the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal.

The Notice of Intention to Appeal to the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal is the first step in the appeals process.

This indicates Button’s intention to challenge the sentence and was required to be made within four weeks of his punishment being handed down.

Button was sentenced on Wednesday afternoon before Judge Roy Ellis at Newcastle District Court. He will be eligible for release on parole on May 7, 2048.

Button was driving the guests from the reception held at the Wandin Valley Estate, two hours north of Sydney, back to Singleton at night in fog when the bus flipped at a roundabout at Greta.

The victims’ families along with survivors were among those in the packed courtroom after 33 victim’s impact statements were read in front of Button and the judge.

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, were killed in the crash

Button’s sentence was reportedly met with cries of ‘yes’ and ‘thank you’ to the judge.

In sentencing, Judge Ellis said Button was under the influence of the opioid-based painkiller tramadol and had ‘abandoned his responsibility’ to his 35 passengers at the time of the crash.

‘Words cannot adequately express the pain, anger, and sadness that permeated the first two days of these proceedings as victim impact statement after victim impact statement was read by and for absolutely distraught, depressed, and devastated family members’ of the deceased and survivors, Judge Ellis said.

Judge Ellis said that in his 50 years in the justice system he had never ‘dealt with, seen, or even read about a case that involved anywhere near the same extent of extraordinary devastation’.

‘Surviving passengers described the trauma of their injuries and scenes of the crash, with unwanted memory of the carnage still present and easily triggered,’ Judge Ellis told the court.

The court was told Button in addition to driving under the influence of the opioid tramadol, was engaging in risk-taking behaviour, and was driving too fast to be able to negotiate the roundabout.

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

The Hunter Valley local took to the stand earlier, telling the survivors and families of his victims that he was ‘ashamed’ of what he had done and 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 ultimate sin.

‘I have caused parents to have to bury their children … I have done it to so many families.

‘I hate myself and I want to disappear.’

The court was told Button had taken ‘significantly more’ than his prescribed dosage of tramadol, a short-relief and opioid-abused painkiller, on the day of the horrific crash.

Button (pictured) told the survivors and families of his victims that he was ‘ashamed’ of what he had done and had ‘committed the ultimate sin’

The court was told Button had been taking tramadol since the 1990s and had been stood down in 2022 by a previous employer after a pain specialist ruled he was addicted to the painkiller.

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

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

Families of the victims, and the survivors had previously said they’d lost faith in the justice system after manslaughter charges were dropped against Button as part of a plea deal in for exchange for 10 counts of dangerous driving causing death. 

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, were killed in the crash.