The driver of a bus that crashed in the New South Wales Hunter Valley in 2023, killing ten wedding guests, has appealed his 32-year jail sentence, arguing it was “manifestly excessive.”
Brett Andrew Button is currently serving a 32-year term, with a 24-year non-parole period, over the fatal crash near Greta. The bus was carrying wedding guests when it overturned.
Initially charged with ten counts of manslaughter, Button later pleaded guilty to reduced charges of dangerous driving occasioning death after a plea deal. He also admitted to multiple counts of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm and furious driving.
During Friday’s hearing before the Court of Criminal Appeal in Newcastle, his barrister, Paul Rosser KC, argued that a “32-year sentence for a single act, albeit catastrophic, is simply too much.”
The appeal was based on three grounds:
That the sentence being manifestly excessive. That the judge’s alleged error in determining the bus’s tipping speed at 31 km/h and that the finding that Button knowingly drove under the influence of the opioid painkiller Tramadol.
Crown prosecutor Sally Dowling SC defended the sentence, stressing it reflected the “severity and lasting impact” of the crash. “It was necessary for the sentence to reflect each victim’s dignity and the suffering endured by the injured,” she told the court.
Dowling said there was clear evidence Button knew the effects of Tramadol and had consumed far more than prescribed.
Rosser countered that Button genuinely believed he was unaffected, citing a high tolerance from long-term use. “He never experienced any euphoria or impairment,” Rosser said.
The two-hour hearing concluded with Justice Julie Ward reserving her judgment to a later date.
