A bus company connected to the 2023 Hunter Valley wedding bus crash has pleaded guilty to two heavy‑vehicle safety breaches. Linq Buslines fronted Gosford Local Court on Tuesday and admitted to breaching National Heavy Vehicle Law between November 2022 and June 2023.
The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator alleged the company failed to ensure it had adequate policies and procedures to prevent drivers from operating vehicles while affected by substances that could impact driving safety. A third charge against the company was withdrawn, but the remaining offences carry a combined maximum penalty of $2 million.
Two company directors also entered guilty pleas. Christopher Terrence Fogg admitted breaching his duty of care, and failing to exercise due diligence to ensure the business complied with heavy‑vehicle safety requirements in the weeks leading up to the June 2023 crash. Two additional charges against him were dropped.
Director Anthony John Royle similarly pleaded guilty to failing to exercise due diligence. His remaining two charges were withdrawn.
The regulator charged the directors over allegations that failures in managing drug‑related risks placed drivers and other road users in danger. Linq Buslines, Fogg and Royle are expected to be sentenced in August.
The proceedings follow the conviction of bus driver Brett Andrew Button, who was jailed for 32 years, with a 24‑year non‑parole period, for causing the crash that killed 10 wedding guests near Greta. Button later lost an appeal against the severity of his sentence.
