Driver adjournment request denied at Glasgow bin lorry crash inquiry

A sheriff has refused a request from the driver of the Glasgow bin lorry crash to have an inquiry into the tragedy halted while he faces the prospect of a private prosecution.

A lawyer for Harry Clarke, 58, had asked for the adjournment at Glasgow Sheriff Court, where the driver is due to give evidence later.

Sheriff John Beckett said there was a "very substantial public interest" in establishing what occurred and preventing a similar tragedy, and so refused the motion.

Mr Clarke was behind the wheel of the truck that lost control on Queen Street on December 22 last year, killing six people.

The family of Jacqueline Morton, 51, intends to bring charges against Mr Clarke once the inquiry has concluded.

Erin McQuade, 18, and her grandparents Jack Sweeney, 68, and Lorraine Sweeney, 69, from Dumbarton, Stephenie Tait, 29, from Glasgow, and 52-year-old Gillian Ewing, from Edinburgh, were also killed in the accident which saw the lorry career into George Square and crash into the side of a hotel.

The inquiry has heard evidence that Mr Clarke has a history of dizzy spells and fainting which he failed to disclose to the DVLA and on job application forms.

He is the only witness remaining to give evidence.