Bin lorry crash driver, Harry Clarke, finally apologises

Harry Clarke told the Mail on Sunday of his “devastation” over the tragedy and said “not a day goes by” when he does not think about the crash and those who died.

The 62-year-old blacked out while behind the wheel in George Square on December 22, 2014.

An official inquiry blamed him for not revealing his medical history, including an episode where he was said to have fainted while working in a previous job as a bus driver.

Mr Clarke told the newspaper: “I am devastated at what happened. There’s all these poor people that are not here and those who were injured.

“It has been made out that I don’t care about what happened. There’s not a day goes by I don’t think about it.

“I’m sorry for the part I played in 2014. It was an accident. If I thought for a minute it was all my fault I’d jump off a bridge.”

Erin McQuade, 18, and her grandparents Jack Sweeney, 68, and Lorraine Sweeney, 69, from Dumbarton; Stephenie Tait, 29, and Jacqueline Morton, 51, both from Glasgow; and Gillian Ewing, 52, from Edinburgh, died in the crash.

A further 15 people were injured when the Glasgow City Council truck veered out of control.

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It had travelled along the pavement in Queen Street before crashing into the side of the Millennium Hotel in George Square.

The inquiry heard evidence over five weeks at the city’s Sheriff Court in July and August 2015.

The probe heard that it took just 19 seconds for the tragedy to unfold.

During the course of the incident, numerous members of the public saw Mr Clarke unconscious, slumped forward in the driver’s seat.

The inquiry also heard he had a history of health issues dating back to the 1970s – including a previous blackout in 2010 when at the wheel of a stationary bus – but had not disclosed his medical background to his employers or the DVLA.