Brett Button, the driver behind the tragic Hunter Valley Bus crash that killed 10 people and injured more than a dozen others, has launched an appeal against his jail sentence.
The 58 year old was driving guests from a wedding reception in Hunter Valley, NSW to Singleton on June 11, 2023 when the bus flipped on Wine Country Drive.
Ten people were killed and 25 others were injured in the horror accident.
Button was originally charged with 10 counts of manslaughter, but those charges were downgraded in a plea deal to dangerous driving occasioning death.
He also pleaded guilty to other charges relating to dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, driving furiously and causing bodily harm to survivors.
Last year, he was sentenced to 32 years behind bars with a non-parole period of 24 years.
Button’s lawyers appeared in court on Thursday on his behalf, with court documents detailing reasons for the appeal, claiming that his prison term was “manifestly excessive” and that the judge made mistakes “finding as a fact that the applicant ‘drove knowing that he was under the influence of an opioid painkiller, Tramadol.'”
At the time of the crash, Button had taken “significantly more” than his prescribed dose of the painkiller.
They also claimed, “the sentencing judge erred in finding that the relevant tipping threshold for the bus was 31 kilometres per hour.”
The appeal will be heard at the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal in Newcastle on October 3.
Image: 7News
