Tragic mother winning f ight for FAIs on deaths abroad
WHEN Colin Love drowned at the age of 23, in a known danger spot in Venezuela, with no warning signs or lifeguards, his mother was left devastated.
Julie Love’s personal tragedy was made worse by the fight for answers from a foreign country and her fear that no lessons had been learned.
But six years on, she is on course to get the ‘Colin’s Law’ she has fought for, as the Scottish Government considers a Bill which would allow fatal accident inquiries (FAIs) in this country for Scots who die abroad.
The legislation has been backed by singer Annie Lennox – Miss Love’s son was on his way to see the star in concert when he died.
Miss Love, of Maryhill, Glasgow, said: ‘Something has to come out of Colin’s death.
‘He was a strong swimmer but I know now that the beach where he was swimming had no warning signs or lifeguards, despite being notorious locally and with the tour operators for its rip tides and undertow.
‘It took four weeks for me to get my son home, to have his body repatriated. We had to piece together what happened.
‘There was no investigation, no recommendations made, and no one seemed to care Colin had died. It was all left to me, a grief-stricken mum, and I don’t want that to happen to anyone else.’
The Bill, which Holyrood will begin scrutinising for the first time this week, would bring Scotland i nto l i ne with England and Wales. If someone from south of the Border dies abroad and their death is sudden, violent or unnatural, a coroner will hold an inquest.
An FAI is only held if someone dies in Scotland. Miss Love, 47, raised a petition calling for a change in the law in 2009, nine months after her son’s death.
Mr Love, a languages graduate, was on a trip with a friend to America and the Caribbean. He was swimming off Playa el Agua near Margarita Island when he got into trouble. Holidaymakers tried to rescue the Glaswegian, but when they pulled him from the water he was dead.
His mother later learned that her son had been left on the beach for hours. A German tourist who had tried to help returned five hours after the tragedy to lay flowers, only to find his body still there.
Miss Love, an NHS administrative assistant, said: ‘If he had died in Scotland, the police would have come to tell me. But it was the captain of the boat who called and said there had been an accident. I collapsed and screamed.’
The mother, who has one other son, 15-year- old John, faced a battle to get her son back and had to pay £6,000 upfront following uncertainty over his travel insurance.
She said: ‘The Foreign Office did change its guidance so anyone travelling to Venezuela knows the beach is dangerous at certain times of year. But otherwise I felt I was having to do everything on my own.’
If passed, the Bill will allow FAIs for Scots who die abroad. It will apply where a body has been brought home, the death was sudden, suspicious or unexplained, gives rise to concern and where a foreign investigation has not sufficiently established the circumstances.
Miss Love has waited six years for the law to change and said: ‘It has been frustrating and there are families who have not had answers and have had to pay for their own post mortems, but I hope Colin’s Law will finally go ahead.’
‘No one seemed to care Colin had died’ ‘I collapsed and
screamed’