Glasgow bus crash death victim's family seek legal aid

The family of a bus driver who died after a co-worker fainted at the wheel are seeking to bring a private prosecution against him.

The Lochrie family want legal aid to pursue a private prosecution against Mr Logue in a manner similar to that of the McQuade and Sweeney familes; both victims of the Glasgow bin lorry crash of 2014. Picture: Robert Perry

Jim Lochrie, 62, died after being hit by a double-decker driven by his First Bus colleague David Logue at a bus stop in Glasgow in 2012.

The Lochrie family want legal aid for a bid to bring a private prosecution against Mr Logue, following confirmation that legal aid had been granted to families of victims in the Glasgow bin lorry crash for a similar legal move.

The Scottish Government announced on March 9 that the McQuade and Sweeney families, who lost three family members in the 2014 bin lorry crash which killed six people, would be given legal aid to pursue a private case due to the “unique and special circumstances” of the case.

Legal aid has also been made available to bin lorry crash driver Harry Clarke and to William Payne, who knocked down and killed students Mhairi Convy and Laura Stewart when he blacked out at the wheel in Glasgow in 2010. The families of the students are also pursuing a private prosecution and it is understood they have made no application for funding.

Fatal accident inquiries found the drivers in all three crashes had a history of blackouts.

Mr Lochrie’s younger brother Archie told the Rutherglen Reformer: “Obviously Jim’s name wasn’t mentioned in the Scottish Government statement, it was the two girls Mhairi and Laura and the Harry Clarke victims.

“But my sister Yvonne has made an appointment with a lawyer for to see whether or not he can do the same thing for us.

“Why should he be walking the streets after doing what he has done having had these episodes? I feel the bin lorry driver and this other driver, why should they get off with it?”

A fatal accident inquiry heard that Mr Logue crashed a bus in January 1998 and in June 2008 as a result of fainting, before he passed out and knocked down Mr Lochrie on Cathcart Road on March 31 2012.

Sheriff Kenneth Mitchell said the death may have been avoided if Mr Logue had followed medical advice or not driven at all.

The Crown Office decided not to prosecute Mr Logue over the crash, ruling there was “insufficient evidence” - the same reasoning given for not prosecuting Mr Clarke.

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