Last year, a Hunter Valley wedding should have been a celebration. 10 people never made it home.

Last June, at around 11.30pm, 35 wedding guests boarded a bus at Hunter Valley's Wandin Valley Estate, headed for Singleton, NSW.

It should have been a special and joyous day — the beginning of a new chapter in a young couple's life, sharing their happiness and celebration with all the people they loved.

Instead, it ended in tragedy and loss.

Affected by opioids, bus driver Brett Button was speeding through fog on Wine Country Drive when the bus slammed into a guard rail and rolled.

25 passengers were taken to hospital.

10 sadly lost their lives. Their names are Darcy Bulman, Nadene McBride and her daughter, Kyah, Kane Symons, Andrew Scott and his wife Lynan, Zach Bray, Angus Craig, Tori Cowburn, and Rebecca Mullen.

The stories of grief never end.

Andrew and Lynan Scott left behind two young children.

Georgie Copeland was in a relationship with Zac Bray. The day after the wedding, she expected their usual 'good morning' banter text message from him. She assumed he'd had a big night and was simply sleeping in, she told Mamamia. Then her heartbreak was confirmed.

Nick Dinakis was a passenger on the coach that night and was seriously injured in the crash, breaking his neck and suffering a brain injury. But worst of all, he said, he lost the love of his life, Darcy Bulman.

The victims of the Hunter Valley bus crash. Image: Supplied.

15 months later, 59-year-old Button learned his fate. This week he was sentenced to 32 years imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 24 years. 

During the three-day sentencing hearing, 33 victim impact statements "graphically painted the picture of devastation".

One survivor recounted: "My friends didn't deserve to die, the others didn't deserve to die. The families here don't deserve to be here. My future has been destroyed because of your actions. I can no longer be the person I was."

Zac Bray's mother told the court: "He and his friends did what they were told to do: have a plan B. They trusted the bus driver would get them home safely, but my son who did everything right still didn't make it home. Zac got a death sentence, and his family and friends got a life sentence."

While delivering the verdict, Newcastle District Court Judge Roy Ellis confessed he had never seen a case of such magnitude throughout his 50 years in the judicial system.

Judge Ellis determined that, on the day of the crash, Button had been impaired by the opioid Tramadol while speeding and engaging in risk-taking behaviour, breaching his duty of care.

"I reiterate the sentence I impose will not bring back the deceased, the sentence will not heal the physical injuries of survivors or heal the heartache of the families of the 10 deceased victims," Judge Ellis said.

"The question of moral culpability in this case is significant as the offender had a responsibility to ensure the safety of passengers and his manner of driving should have been exemplary."

Earlier in the day, while giving evidence in his defense, Button admitted to taking more than the prescribed amount of Tramadol ahead of the crash. 

"I'm ashamed," the driver told the court. "I can't forgive myself. I can't believe I caused this. I never meant to cause this. I truly wish it never happened," he continued, adding that he had committed the "ultimate sin".

"I hate myself. I want to disappear," Button said. "I'm sorry to everyone involved. I've shamed everyone."

The driver pleaded guilty to 10 charges of dangerous driving causing death, nine counts of driving causing grievous bodily harm, and 16 counts of causing bodily harm by wanton driving.

Button was originally charged with 10 counts of manslaughter, but these were later downgraded to dangerous driving occasioning death after a plea deal with the Department of Public Prosecutions.

Now he will spend the next 24 years at least behind bars.

Listen to this topic on Mamamia's news podcast The Quicky. Post continues after audio.

With AAP.

Feature Image: AAP.