The company that hired a driver "addicted to opioids" after a flippant texted reference check has been fined after the flaws in its systems were exposed by the horror Hunter Valley bus crash.
Linq Buslines and its directors, Christopher Terrence Fogg and Anthony John Royle, were sentenced in Gosford Local Court on Wednesday, August 26, after pleading guilty to heavy vehicle rule breaches.
The company was responsible for hiring Brett Button, who was driving a coach full of wedding guests when it rolled at Greta on the night of June 11, 2023, killing 10 people and injuring 25 others.
Linq Buslines was charged over its inadequate recruitment processes, not managing and addressing overspeed in a timely manner, and its fatigue management.
The company was convicted and fined $630,000 for one offence and $20,000 for a second, lesser offence.
It was revealed during the sentencing proceedings that the "reference check" the company did before hiring Button was a text exchange containing expletives and emojis.
Judge Kirralee Perry said the messages were "flippant at best", "totally negligent" at worst, and "wholly inappropriate" before putting someone in charge of a heavy vehicle.
She said Linq Buslines did not require Button to undergo a medical assessment, produce a driving record, or hand over proper references.
Judge Perry said the community expected companies that employed bus drivers to be cautious, diligent and careful.
The company had admitted to exposing the public to the risk of death, serious injury or illness, for its failings between November 2022, when Button was employed, and June 2023.
"Linq Buslines recruited a man who was addicted to opioids ... the likelihood of the risk eventuating was overwhelming in this case," Judge Perry said.
The company was not being punished for causing the rollover, but Judge Perry found that the crash and the death and injuries it caused were relevant.
Wedding guests trusted a bus driver with their lives, 10 never made it home
The 'revealing' text exchange before Greta bus crash driver was handed a job
The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator also brought one charge each against the company's two directors, related to their failures to manage and address overspeed incidents in a timely manner.
Fogg and Royle were each convicted and fined $12,000. All fines included a discount for pleading guilty.
Judge Perry said directors could not "put their hands over their ears" and insist there was a policy in place if it was not being implemented properly.
The court heard Fogg, 57, was a third-generation bus operator who continued to work in the industry, as he had since he was 12. Royle, 53, was also a long-term bus operator.
The court heard both directors had suffered as a result of the crash and had shown remorse.
Linq Buslines stopped trading after its accreditation was terminated in March.
The sentencing came after Judge Perry ruled against a defence application to block victim impact statements from crash survivors and family members of victims.
The parents of Singleton doctor Rebecca Mullen, who lost her life in the crash, read heart-wrenching statements in court laying bare the loss of their "sunshine".
They both said the failures that had been uncovered in the aftermath had added to their trauma.
"For me, one of the hardest things to live with is the belief that this should never have happened," Matt Mullen said.
"I learned about concerns held about that bus driver long before the 11th of June, 2023, as to his safe operation of buses, his drug use, and his ability to drive while in pain.
"I cannot understand how the systems and processes that were supposed to protect passengers did not prevent him from being able to drive that night."
Survivors Jason and Sharyn Junkeer read victim impact statements detailing how dramatically the crash had changed their lives. Mr Junkeer witnessed horrific scenes before paramedics arrived and his wife suffered serious and long-term injuries.
Button was sentenced in September 2024 to a maximum of 32 years in jail for causing the deaths of 10 wedding guests and injuring 25 others. The tragedy sent shockwaves across the Hunter Region, and the nation.
