Workman died after ladder touched cable Inquiry heard power lines ran through garden

An ambulance controller then talked him through how to perform CPR on the victim.

The wife of house owner Alexander Squires, who is trained in CPR, took over and her husband was despatched to collect a defribillator from Errol Village Hall.

Two ambulances had also arrived and Mr Buchan was taken to Dundee’s Ninewells Hospital but he died two days later, surrounded by his family.

The inquiry heard the two workmen hadn’t long started on the £700 job at East Leys on the morning of April 2, 2018.

Three 11,000 volt power lines run through the garden, parallel to the house. They are more than six metres from the ground.

Mr Buchan had been sanding down a dormer while Mr Tait sat on the end of the ladder to keep it stable.

The ladder then required to be shortened for the next part of the work and it had been placed on the ground, perpendicular to the house - and the overhead lines.

Mr Tait said: “I didn’t think we were going to be near the wires myself, because they were quite a distance from the house.”

But by then he was, most likely, standing under - or very close - to them.

Mr Tait added: “Martin started pushing the ladder towards me - he was pushing it up.

“He was walking it up with his hands, walking towards me.

“I heard him screaming - it was enough to alert me not to touch the ladder - and I saw smoke coming up.”

Mr Tait, who was wearing thick, rubber-soled boots with steel toecaps, said: “I felt pains coming up my legs” - and he took his foot off the ladder.

He was taken to hospital for a check up and although he escaped any physical injury, he said he later “kept seeing” Martin’s face.

Sheriff William Wood said he was possibly suffering from some form of post traumatic stress.

Just before the fatal accident, Mr Tait explained: “We were talking about doing this job for another 20 years and maybe that’s why we didn’t realise we were directly under the cables.”

A post mortem on Mr Buchan, of Tweed Crescent, Dundee, revealed he had died “due to, or as a consequence of, high voltage electrocution.”

Stating that he would give his findings in writing in due course, Sheriff Wood described what happened as a “tragic accident.”

He added: “Mr Buchan was an ordinary working man who went out one morning to do a job of work and, due to a moment’s inattention, suffered tragic consequences.”

He passed on his condolences to the deceased’s family and partner, some of whom were present in court.