Fatal Accident

  A Fatal Accident Inquiry into the death of baby Ainslie Smith, who died in his sleep in July 2009 has concluded that a faulty cot was to blame. Sadly Ainslie was found by his mother wedged between the mattress and side slats of his cot.  H...

  In a recent late night discussion with friends we found ourselves debating the Parable of the Talents and its parallels with the current political landscape. Probably by most standards a strange parallel to draw but I thought that the disappointme...

  For the best part it can easily be said that Scotland’s judicial system is one to be proud of. It is transparent and adversarial, striving to ensure equality among court users.  While that is generally true, there is one particular aspe...

  Last month in the UK 15 cyclists perished on our roads.  Out of the 15, some 13 of those fatal accidents involved motorised vehicles; Ford Fiesta, Honda Accord, Toyota Aygo, Renault Trafic, Range Rover Sport, Peugeot van, Ford Transit van, BM...

  Nearly two out of five adults have suffered life-threatening experiences, with the average person cheating death at least once, according to new research from MetLife. The nationwide study found that 39% of adults have nearly died in accidents, wi...

  I had only just finished reading about how dangerous the farming industry is when I read that a Scottish salmon farming company had been fined £70,000 after a worker drowned at its site at Loch Heather. The worker tragically lost his life...

  I was recently reading a very sad article about a baby boy who was left brain damaged after being born in an Ayrshire hospital.  The baby’s mother has recently spoken about her hope of finally “getting justice” as prosecutor...

  Farming company, GJ Orr, has been fined £112,500 after a worker was crushed to death between the rollers of a potato harvester.  Keth Wannan’s arms and legs were caught in the machine and he was only freed after the harvester was ...

  It has been reported that £15 million in compensation has been paid to some of the relatives of those who tragically lost their lives when the helicopter they were in crashed into the North Sea. When a Super Puma Helicopter crashed in to...

  I was saddened to read about the death of a 26 year old woman following what was thought to be a minor injury while horse riding in Turkey.  Charity fundraiser Louise Carolan fell off a horse in Turkey and hurt her knee.  She was tol...

  I saw that yet another Scottish firm has been fined over the death of a worker.  Whiteinch Demolition Ltd who are based in Bishopbriggs pled guilty to Health and Safety breaches at Glasgow Sheriff Court after Bernard McCarroll died whilst dis...

  I was sad when I heard the tragic news that an oil worker had suffered fatal injuries and died after falling overboard from a North Sea oil platform. It has been reported that the 37 year old oil worker was working on ropes on a platform opera...

  I was pleased to hear that according to official figures the number of people who sustained injuries in road traffic accidents fell last year. The statistics published are however, only based on incidents, which were reported to the police. Lo...

  Is it just me or has there been a spate of cyclists and motorcyclists seriously injured in Scotland’s roads of late? It is regrettable that the most vulnerable on the roads are offered no protection from negligent drivers. The latest inciden...

  I was reading with interest that although Scotland’s most heavily used roads have seen an increase in road safety they still remain the most dangerous in the UK. A report by the Road Safety Foundation has found that the chances of having ...

  Some of my friends at Thompsons have signed up for an 8 hour Cycle Commuter Course run by Cycle Scotland.  The course is aimed at providing cyclists, including new and returning bike enthusiasts, with the skills and confidence to tackle every...

  A family have been awarded £270,000 compensation after the death of a loved one in a motorbike accident. Paul Bellingham died in July 2008 after he was knocked off his motorbike while on holiday in Scotland. Paul and his brother Mark were...

  Network Rail has been fined £3 million for the Potters Bar Train crash for Health and Safety Failures.  The accident killed 6 rail passengers and one pedestrian walking near the station when the train was derailed. The company admitt...

  Sheriff Principal Brian Lockart has now published his findings following a 141 day fatal accident inquiry into the fire at Rosepark care home in Uddingston, Lanarkshire. Sheriff Principal Lockart found that the fire safety plans at the care hom...

  The Guardian has reported that the NHS is facing an ever increasing compensation bill for mistakes made by maternity-unit staff which result in a baby dying or suffering brain damage or a disability. Doctors and safety campaigners are fighting ...

  I was dismayed to read in the news about the 49 year old diver who died while working on the Acergy Osprey Vessel. It is thought that the diver suffered a heart attack. Emergency services were called, however, by the time the helicopter had made t...

  I was just reading that two Scottish companies have just been fined a total of £400,000 for breaches of health and safety legislation that resulted in the death of a stonemason’s labourer at a Glasgow Construction site. James Kelly ...

  I was saddened to read about two tourists that were killed when a vessel they were sightseeing in flipped over at Iguazu Falls in Argentina.  The driver of the boat and 5 other passengers were seriously injured. The boat, which was owned b...

  Electric Light Orchestra were one of my favourite bands in the 1970s and I was so sad when I heard that Mike Edwards, who played cello with them, had been killed in an accident. The accident happened when a 600kg bale of hay fell from a tractor...

Another Car Accident, Again?!   Life is full of tragic events, whether we want them to take place or not, which result in unintended consequences. I know it’s a bitch isn’t it, get over it. Take for example ‘Car Accidents’. ...

  A paper making company in Fife has been fined £260,000 after a worker fell through a roof and sustained fatal injuries. Thomas Sturrock was cleaning the roof when it collapsed and he fell through landing on the concrete floor. Tragically Tho...

  I was so sad to read in the newspaper about the six people that were killed after a plane crashed at Cork airport. The accident is due to be investigated by the air accident investigation unit. My friends at Thompsons Solicitors have told me th...

  I was sad to see another story in the press about a sat-nav device causing a road traffic accident.  It has taught me not to rely on just the sat-nav as they sometimes can be wrong.  This time the error proved fatal and a four year old g...

  I was really saddened to hear that a lollipop lady Audrey Williams, 79 from Ayr died after being involved in a road traffic accident involving a single decker bus while she was on duty. The lollipop lady known otherwise as the Forehill Primary...

  I was very shocked to read that the number of work related deaths in Edinburgh and the Lothians has risen in the past year.  This has led to warnings to employers to take health and safety seriously. The figures that have been released fo...

  I was dismayed to read that the pedestrian death toll on Scotland’s roads has reached five by the 6 January 2011. I was even more astonished to read that the deaths occurred within the space of 24 hours. It appears as though three of these d...

  I have just read about a horrendous accident that occurred on a farm in Berwickshire.  A farmer and a farm worker both suffered serious crushing injuries to their legs after being sucked into a slurry-cleaning machine.  Both of the men r...

  BT were recently fined £300,000 after a worker sustained fatal head injuries during the course of his employment.   David Askew, a power construction engineer, employed by BT fell from a wooden ladder in October 2006 while installing...

My good friend Frank Maguire of Thompsons Solicitors, an expert at winning compensation for clients in personal injury cases, kindly agreed write a post for my blog this week. Here Frank looks beyond the euphoria of the Chilean miners’ rescues to...

I was pleased to see that recently a Judge has jailed 2 young drivers who caused the death of a 17 year old boy by racing their cars at 90 mph.   Young drivers are often criticised and many people don’t want them to be able to drive unsupervi...

  Positively recent statistics have revealed that there has been a decrease in the number of fatal accidents at work in the UK over the last year.   Thompsons are advocates for safer workplaces and work hard with employers, families and the H...

A Fatal Accident Inquiry in Lanarkshire has criticised the Scottish Ambulance Service for their delay in getting a man injured by the falling bucket of a JCB to hospital.   61 year old former fireman Andrew Andrews died 8 minutes before the ambulan...

  I am familiar with the tragic story of 14 year old Kaylee McIntosh, who died while on an Army Cadet training exercise, Thompsons having represented her family at the Fatal Accident Inquiry. The next stage of the process is now in motion as we h...

Some of you may remember the tragic drowning of seven year old Luke Hutton in September 2007 at the Olympia Leisure Centre in Dundee.  The organisation and training of lifeguards at the centre was insufficient and the alarm was raised only when another child reported Luke missing.  His body was found in a covered wave pool following a search.  Fatal accidents like this upset me firstly because they are avoidable by proper implementation of health and safety and secondly because no level of compensation will ever reflect Luke’s families sorrow.  The operators of swimming pool were fined £40,000 last week for breach of Health and Safety Laws.  Read the full story.