Deaths at luxury hotel are ruled as unlawful

A coroner has ruled that two men who died in a blaze at a luxury Scottish hotel were unlawfully killed.

Simon Midgley, 32, and Richard Dyson, 38, died when fire engulfed five-star Cameron House Hotel on the banks of Loch Lomond on December 18, 2017.

Delivering his findings on the deaths of the English couple, Wakefield senior coroner Kevin Mcloughlin criticised Scottish authorities over their handling of the case and co-operation with his inquiry.

Mr Mcloughlin expressed frustration and “puzzlement” that he had not been granted access to thousands of pages of documents from the investigation by Scottish authorities, including 1.2 terabytes of CCTV footage, due to “confidentiality” rules.

The coroner also said he was puzzled why Scottish prosecutors had taken three years to conclude a criminal case when it was clear from footage shown on media reports how the fire had begun.

Mr Midgley’s mother Jane told the hearing that her son, who ran a travel PR business, phoned her from the hotel on December 17 saying the couple were “having a fabulous time”. She told the court he said: “I’m drowning in dreams, mother dear. And I promise you life is going to be good from now on.”

The inquest heard the blaze started at the hotel after a night porter put a bag full of embers in a cupboard.

Earlier this year, hotel operator Cameron House Resort (Loch Lomond) was fined £500,000 and night porter Christopher O’malley was given a community payback order after admitting fire safety offences.

Mr Dyson’s father Roger told the inquest he thought the fine handed to the hotel company was “derisory”.