Families are denied full inquiry into hotel deaths
The mother of a man killed alongside his partner in a fire at a fivestar hotel has said she is “very upset and angry” and will appeal against a decision not to hold a fatal accident inquiry.
Simon Midgley, 32, and Richard Dyson, 38, were unlawfully killed when flames engulfed the Cameron House Hotel on the banks of Loch Lomond on December 18 2017, a coroner in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, concluded last week but the Scottish crown office and Procurator Fiscal Service said last night it had decided not to hold a fatal accident inquiry.
The mother of a man killed alongside his partner in a fire at a five-star hotel has said she is “very upset and angry” and will appeal against a decision not to hold a fatal accident inquiry.
Simon Midgley, 32, and Richard Dyson, 38, were unlawfully killed when flames engulfed the Cameron House Hotel on the banks of Loch Lomond on December 18 2017, a coroner in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, concluded last Wednesday.
In january, the hotel operatorwas fined £500,000 and a night porter was given a community payback order after he disposed of embers in a cupboard, sparking the fatal blaze.
The scottish crown office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said last night it had decided not to hold a fatal accident inquiry( fai )– the equivalent of an inquest –after“a thorough investigation and criminal prosecution leading to the conviction of two parties ”.
Mr midgley’ s mother jane told the pa news agency she would appeal against the decision, saying: “I’m very upset and angry about it. We need an FAI, it’s 100 per cent in the public interest.”
She added she was “absolutely speechless” at the punishments over the fire, adding: “There’s no way I’m going away.”
A COPFS statement said: “The purpose of an FAI is to determine the cause of death and to establish what lessons can be learned for the future in order to minimise the risk of future deaths in similar circumstances.
“Crown Counsel are satisfied that the reasons for this tragedy have been established and that the circumstances of the deaths were publicly identified during the prosecution process.”