A distraught dad, whose son was one of 10 people killed in the Hunter Valley bus crash, said the victims’ family were ‘sold a bit of a story’ after manslaughter charges against the driver were dropped.
Brett Andrew Button, 59, instead pleaded guilty to 10 counts of dangerous driving causing death, nine counts of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm and 16 counts of furious driving causing bodily harm in the June 2023 crash.
Adam Bray, whose son Zach, 29, died in the tragedy, told A Current Affair that the downgrading of charges was ‘more than a kick in the teeth’.
‘It reopens wounds and triggers and it evokes, obviously, some anger, but I’m trying to be balanced and stick with the facts and hopefully we can achieve some positive outcomes,’ Mr Bray said.
‘Thirty six hours before the court (on Wednesday), all the families were told, sold a bit of a story to be honest … that’s extremely disappointing and I’ll continue to fight.’
Adam Bray (pictured), whose son Zach, 29, died in the 2023 Hunter Valley bus crash, said the downgrading of charges against the driver was ‘more than a kick in the teeth’
Brett Andrew Button, 59, pleaded guilty to 10 counts of dangerous driving causing death, nine counts of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm and 16 counts of furious driving causing bodily harm in the June 2023 crash
He said just five weeks ago there were ’89 charges, including 10 charges of manslaughter’ against Button.
Mr Bray said the downgrading of the charges was ‘totally wrong, and does it need to take these 10 lives to fix bus and coach safety in Australia?’
The devastated dad’s response came after it emerged that Button had a drug dependency and had prescription painkillers in his system when he crashed the bus.
‘It’s criminal to drive a vehicle, a heavy vehicle in Australia, particularly with 35 passengers on board, when you are medicated,’ Mr Bray said.
‘So to reduce to lesser charges, it’s not balanced.’
The bus, which was returning from a wedding reception, rolled over at a roundabout near Greta, in the NSW Hunter Valley on June 11 last year, killing 10 people and injuring 25 others.
As well as Zach Bray, mother and daughter Nadene and Kyah McBride, Kyah’s boyfriend Kane Symons, husband and wife Andrew and Lynan Scott, Angus Craig, Darcy Bulman, Tori Cowburn and Rebecca Mullen all died.
Mr Bray was in tears as he said his son as an ‘incredible man’ who had recently overcome stage 3 bowel cancer.
He said the manslaughter charges being dropped left him feeling he was ‘pretty much back to square one’ emotionally and that it was ‘another massive challenge’.
Zach Bray (right), who was one of the 10 people who died in the 2023 Hunter Valley bus crash, is pictured with his father, Adam
The bus (pictured) rolled onto its side after Button lost control while carrying wedding guests
‘We’ll do our best to get through it, but also try to get law reform so that 10 beautiful people did not die in vain.
‘It’s far from fair, let’s try to rally around government, try to rally around the attorney general, get some public opinion, let’s try to create some fairness, it’s all we can do.’
When the manslaughter charge related to the death of Rebecca Mullen was dismissed on Wednesday, her father Matt began to sob loudly and visibly reacted.
Outside court, he told reporters he hadn’t slept at all the night before in anticipation of the Crown’s public announcement that it would withdraw the charges.
Despite his pain, Mr Mullen still managed to find compassion for others affected by the fatal crash.
‘Our hearts and thoughts go out to the driver’s family,’ he said.
Rebecca’s mother Leanne said she disapproved of the Crown’s decision, but it was only a small fraction of the pain she felt from her daughter’s loss.
She said she would wait to see what happened at Button’s sentencing.
Leanne said the news of the downgraded charges, which the families were told of just 36 hours before Button’s hearing, had been devastating.
‘As a a mum to be able to hold her while she was still warm, to hold her hand, to kiss her on the forehead to tell her the things I needed to say that was denied because it was a crime scene,’ she said.
‘But now that seem to me that those sacrifices by me as a mum have been disrespected.’
Bride and groom Mitchell Gaffney and Madeleine Edsell are pictured at a public memorial for those killed and injured in the bus crash carrying their wedding guests on June 11, 2023
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