- Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this story may contain images of deceased persons.
THE BUS driver responsible for killing 10 wedding guests and injuring 25 in the Greta bus tragedy has tearfully told a courtroom packed with the loved ones of victims that he will never forgive himself.
Brett Andrew Button's voice cracked and his hands shook as he was questioned in Newcastle District Court about the significant amount of painkillers he had taken, his excessive speed and risky behaviours on the night of the crash on June 11 last year.
It's the first time the 59-year-old has spoken publicly about the coach rollover on a Wine Country Drive roundabout.
Button has sat quietly with his head in his hands during the past two days as one by one, more than 40 grieving family members, survivors and the injured tried to put into words the gravity of their losses and harrowing experiences in victim impact statements that were read or handed up to the court.
When he was removed from his glass cage and walked to the witness box, Button gave evidence at his sentencing hearing on Wednesday that he was ashamed.
"I've tried to figure out the words to say 'I'm sorry', but how do you say you're sorry for such a horrible, tragic event that has ruined the lives of hundreds of people?" he said, breaking down.
"I can't forgive myself, I can't believe I caused this, I never meant to cause it, and every single person that died and was injured, and everyone involved in this, I truly wish it never happened and I could apologise where people believed me.
"I never meant to hurt anyone in my entire life, and now I've committed the ultimate sin."
He said he had caused parents to bury their children, which had been his lifelong worst nightmare.
He apologised to the emergency services confronted with such carnage at the scene.
Button admitted he had taken significantly more of the prescription opioid painkiller Tramadol on the day of the crash than he was meant to while driving.
"You thought you knew better than the doctors about the risk that you posed," Crown prosecutor Katharine Jeffreys said.
"Yes," Button whispered.
Button was stood down from his work as a bus driver in 2022 after a pain specialist report found he was dependent on Tramadol and vulnerable to addiction.
When he went on to work at Linq Buslines, the company he was employed by on the night of the charter coach crash, he did not tell them about his use of the drug.
Ms Jeffreys asked whether Button knew from the report in 2022 that using large amounts of Tramadol made him a danger on the roads.
"Yes," he replied.
Button was travelling at almost double the speed that would likely have caused the bus to tip when he went around the roundabout at about 11.30pm, hitting just over 56 kilometres per hour in the moments before the crash.
He had stated to his passengers, "this next part's going to be fun", "if you liked that corner, you're going to like this one", and ignored their pleas to slow down.
Button claimed in court his haunting comment before the crash was in relation to a passenger's remark that the roundabout ramp was like a "roller coaster".
The court heard on Wednesday Button had been trying to find explanations for the tragedy, and Ms Jeffreys asked if that was an attempt to find a reason other than his own conduct.
"I blame me," he said.
"I don't stop thinking about it, ever. I don't really understand."
The court heard sentencing submissions from the Crown and defence barristers on September 11, and lengthy written submissions were handed up.
Paul Rosser, KC, representing Button, told the court while the killer driver admitted to being affected by Tramadol, there was no way to determine the extent of the impairment.
"This is a world away from someone becoming intoxicated for the sake of becoming intoxicated," Mr Rosser said.
He said Button had been taking Tramadol for an "awfully long time" - since about 1994 - and would have developed a tolerance.
He argued that what Button did as he entered the roundabout was "grievously dangerous" but it did not reflect his manner of driving for the 15 minutes before the crash.
"The only relevant warnings were those offered as he drove through the roundabout ... at that stage, it was too late," Mr Rosser said.
"It's not a course of driving where he is, over a long period of time, showing off, going too fast."
Ms Jeffreys submitted that the seriousness of the offending was elevated because Button was a bus driver employed to safely transport a group of wedding guests.
"That was a position of privilege and responsibility," she told the court.
She said the bride and groom had acted responsibly by making the travel arrangement, and the passengers, many of whom had been drinking and celebrating, had acted responsibly by making use of it.
"The one person that was not behaving responsibly was the one person who those 35 lives were entrusted to," she said.
Ms Jeffreys said there were people affected by the crash that had not given victim impact statements, like the wedding guests that were first on the scene or the first responders that were exposed to the carnage.
She argued that Button had shown remorse and sorrow but may not have fully grappled with what specifically - like taking too much Tramadol - he had done wrong.
Judge Roy Ellis said human nature could allow a person to accept responsibility, but acknowledging certain things could "make it difficult to live with having done so".
"A person who is not a bad person might struggle to come to grips with what they have done," he said.
Button has been awaiting sentence behind bars since May, when he struck a deal which saw him plead guilty to 10 counts of dangerous driving occasioning death, nine of occasioning grievous bodily harm, and 16 other charges.
The courtroom has been packed with family, friends and survivors, as well as Button's loved ones and supporters, throughout the three-day hearing in Newcastle court.
There's been a media swarm outside on Hunter Street each day.
The court on Monday heard victim impact statements from the families of husband and wife Andrew and Lynan Scott, Singleton doctor Rebecca Mullen, Angus Craig, Darcy Bulman and the husband and father of Nadene and Kyah McBride.
On Tuesday, loved ones of Tori Cowburn, Kane Symons and Zachary Bray gave their heartbreaking statements, before crash survivors told of their relentless trauma on board the "bus of hell".
Some details of the sentencing proceedings cannot be reported for legal reasons.
Judge Ellis was expected to hand down his sentence on Wednesday afternoon.
- Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; MensLine 1300 789 978; Kids Helpline 1800 551 800; beyondblue 1300 224 636; 1800-RESPECT 1800 737 732.
