Families of victims hit out after black-out driver Clarke claims he isn't bothered about returning to scene where 26-tonne council vehicle began trail of destruction in 2014
BRAZEN bin truck driver Harry Clarke casually strolls up the street where six people were killed — then revealed he wasn’t bothered about being back at the tragedy scene.
The 59-year-old, who was slumped at the wheel when his lorry mowed down Glasgow shoppers, was spotted there today.
Later he told The Scottish Sun: “Queen Street doesn’t bother me. I blacked out, so I don’t remember anything.”
But the outraged family of three bin lorry victims hit out at Clarke.
Relatives of Erin McQuade, 18, and her grandparents Lorraine and Jack Sweeney were stunned to learn the smash driver had returned the scene of the tragedy.
Speaking just three weeks before the second anniversary of the horror in the city centre, a source said: “This is unbelievable.
“None of us have been able to go there for nearly two years and yet he’s not bothered about going. Maybe he is seeking some form of solace — but we find it difficult to understand he could go there.
“He at least gets to go home and see his family.”
Clarke, 59, was spotted by The Scottish Sun as he walked down Queen Street to the exact spot where his 26-tonne council vehicle began its trail of destruction on December 22, 2014.
Dressed in scruffy jeans, trainers and a woolly hat, he paused outside the Gallery of Modern Art for several seconds.
He then gazed up towards the Millennium Hotel — where his lorry crashed to a halt after mowing down and killing Erin, Lorraine, 69, and Jack, 68, all from Dumbarton, Stephenie Tait, 29, and Jacqueline Morton, 51, of Glasgow, and Gillian Ewing, 52, from Edinburgh.
Clarke then walked acrosss Royal Exchange Square to Buchanan Street but doubled back on himself several times.
After being asked by our reporter if it bothered him being back at the scene, he said: “Queen Street doesn’t bother me.
“I blacked out so I don’t remember anything. I just woke up at the end of it outside the hotel. I know the other two guys that were with me still find it hard.”
Clarke, from Baillieston, Glasgow, refused to speak further about the tragedy, saying: “I would love to put my side of the story across because the whole truth hasn’t come out yet.
“But I’ve been told by my lawyers that I can’t say anything until everything’s finished at the courts.”
Clarke, who was carrying a sheaf of papers, then tried to avoid being photographed as he walked away from the scene. His bizarre lunchtime meander saw him mingle with festive shoppers.
An onlooker said: “Basically he was walking in circles around the area where the truck he was driving killed six people. It was all very weird.
“He could have picked anywhere to go for a walk.”
The crash happened on a packed Queen Street just three days before Christmas. Alix Stewart, 15, was one of the first to be hit by the truck.
The teenager was convinced she’d die as she was dragged more than 50 metres while pinned underneath the out-of-control vehicle, in which Clarke was slumped at the wheel.
She suffered broken bones in her spine, fractured ribs, shattered femur and fractured collarbone as well as damaged liver and kidneys.
The lorry then hit the six victims before crashing into the hotel next to Queen Street train station.
In October, a hearing was held at the Court of Session in Edinburgh to determine if relatives of Erin, Jack and Lorraine can bring a private prosecution against Clarke.
They launched the action after the Crown Office decided not to take criminal action against the driver.
John Scott QC made submissions on behalf of Clarke, which cannot be reported for legal reasons.
Lady Dorrian, Lord Menzies and Lord Drummond will publish their decision in writing at a later date.
The judges are also considering an attempt to prosecute William Payne, 55, over the deaths of students Mhairi Convy, 18, and Laura Stewart, 20, in a crash in Glasgow’s North Hanover Street in December 2010.