Glasgow bin lorry crash driver arrested

Harry Clarke, 58, is accused of getting behind the wheel of a car on 20 September, it is understood.

A Police spokeswoman said: “A 58-year-old man was arrested in connection with alleged road traffic offences.

“A report will be sent to the procurator-fiscal.”

A fatal accident inquiry into the bin lorry crash on 22 December last year heard Mr Clarke lost consciousness at the wheel of the council refuse truck.

Erin McQuade, 18, and her grandparents Jack Sweeney, 68, and Lorraine Sweeney, 69, from Dumbarton died from multiple injuries after being hit by the truck.

Stephenie Tait, 29, and Jacqueline Morton, 51, both from Glasgow, and Gillian Ewing, 52, from Edinburgh, were also killed as the lorry travelled out of control along Queen Street and towards George Square before crashing into the side of the Millennium Hotel.

A further 15 people were injured.

A fatal accident inquiry into the deaths heard DVLA officials had withdrawn Mr Clarke’s car licence for 12 months and banned him from driving heavy goods vehicles for ten years on 25 June this year.

Speaking about the crash, survivors recently said they could not bring themselves to return to the scene of the tragedy.

Irene McAuley, 18, suffered a broken ankle and lost four teeth that fateful day.

She said she couldn’t smile because she felt so self-conscious and told how she now has a lisp as a result of her injuries.

In a victim statement read to Glasgow Sheriff Court, she said she avoided Royal Exchange Square altogether. She added: “I visualise every crash I could be involved in.

“I’m more anxious and can’t go near a bin lorry. I had nightmares for weeks after the crash, and they still return.”

Alix Stewart was meeting friends in the square when she was hit by the lorry and dragged underneath it.

The 14-year-old had her ear torn off and suffered several broken ribs and bones as well as injured kidneys and liver.