The NHVR is in court this week as it seeks to prosecute the directors of Linq Buslines the operator of the bus that crashed in the Hunter Valley three years ago killing ten people and injuring another 25.
Two directors of Linq Buslines, Christopher Terrence Fogg and Anthony John Royle appeared before Gosford Local Court yesterday (Monday 24 August) to face sentencing after they pled guilty to breaching their duty of care and failing to exercise due diligence in the weeks leading up to the fatal crash that occurred at Greta in the Hunter Valley in June 2023.
The court heard that the bus company had exposed the public to risk the entire time that its driver, Brett Andrew Button was employed by the company. Button was driving the bus carrying wedding guests when it crashed at the Greta roundabout with tragic loss of life and serious injuries.
Button was found guilty of a number of charges in September 2024 and was sentenced to 32 years in jail with a non parole period of 24 years. He later unsuccessfully appealed the sentence .
The two directors, Christopher Fogg and Anthony Royle, both from families with a long heritage and history in the bus industry are awaiting sentencing after their guilty pleas to a range of NHVR heavy-vehicle law breaches.
Royle was managing director of the long held family owned Forest Coachlines in Sydney for 20 years before the operation was sold to CDC in September 2018. Chris Fogg is a part of the famous Sid Fogg family, and has been the managing director of Port Stephens Coaches for approximately 18 years, a business that was started in 1957 by his famous grandfather, Hunter Valley transport icon Sid Fogg who sold it to Chris’ father Terry in 1972.
The Gosford court was told yesterday by prosecution barrister Georgia Lewer that Linq Buslines’ recruitment policies had put the public at risk.
“It is important that your honour is sentencing Linq that for the seven months Brett Button was employed to drive buses and the public was put at risk during that period, and it would not have happened had he not been employed,” said Lewer.
“He drove as a casual bus driver for seven months and there 
was a continuing offence over a period,” the prosecutor told the court.
Button would later admit he was drug impaired, using opioid Tramadol in excessive amounts at the time, and that he was also speeding when he entered the roundabout and tipped the bus onto its side.
The two company directors came face to face with families and survivors during the sentencing hearing for the heavy vehicle breaches, with at least four of them being allowed to deliver victim impact statements as part of the hearing.
The court heard that a lack of protocols, and of monitoring and procedures were at the heart of the heavy vehicle breach charges, and which the company and its directors have admitted to.
Linq Buslines pleaded guilty in March to two counts of breaching the National Heavy Vehicle Law between November 2022 and June 2023.
The maximum penalty Linq faces for both breaches combined is a total of $2 million.
The company admitted to exposing the public to risk during that time and the court heard that it had no policies requiring potential drivers to undergo a medical assessment or fill out a medical fitness form.
The court also heard there was no requirement for drivers to produce a driving record and provide valid references or referees from previous employers.
However defence barrister Bruce Hodgkinson SC said there was nothing to suggest Button was not fit for the role.
“His long-term GP said he was not drug dependant and the only muscular disorder he had was arthritis,” Hodgkinson told the court.
The Linq directors Christopher Fogg and Anthony John Royle pleaded guilty to breaching their duty of care in the six weeks leading up to the crash.
The charge was set out in the agreed facts which stated: “[Royle and Fogg] failed to take reasonable steps to ensure that appropriate action was undertaken to manage and address issues identified over speeding in a timely manner.”
The charge was set out in the agreed facts which stated: “[Royle and Fogg] failed to take reasonable steps to ensure that appropriate action was undertaken to manage and address issues identified over speeding in a timely manner.”
Sentencing proceedings are continuing.
