The heartbroken mother of a man killed in hotel fire hopes answers will finally be given more than four years after the tragedy.
A fatal accident inquiry date has been set after a hotel fire at the Cameron House Hotel in Loch Lomond on December 18, 2017. Simon Midgley, 32, and his partner Richard Dyson, 38, both died in the blaze.
Simon's mum, Jane Midgley, from Leeds, was 'heartbroken' and called for further action after it was found out that the company behind the hotel failed to implement the correct fire safety protocols. One of the porter's, Christopher O'Malley admitted to placing a plastic bag of ash inside a cupboard which caused the fire.
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Jane called for a full inquiry into the incident to avoid it happening again and has spent years questioning her son's final moments. An inquiry will now be taking place more than four and a half years after the fire killed her son.
In 2021, Jane spoke to The Daily Record, saying: "They should have been shut down. If the fire service said to them ‘you have a week to put it right or you will be closed down’, my son and his partner would still be alive.
“I feel like there’s an umbrella of people and authorities which could have stepped in, so why didn’t that happen?
“The £500,000 fine is pocket money to Cameron House.
“They get to move on with their lives now but how are we supposed to do that?
“I sat in court and listened to how they are going to build this brand new hotel and I’m here with my mental health in tatters and my heart completely broken.”
Hotel operator Cameron House Resort (Loch Lomond) Ltd was fined £500,000. Night porter Christopher O’Malley was given a community payback order over the fire at Dumbarton Sheriff Court in January 2021.
At a continued preliminary hearing, which took place virtually on Tuesday, Sheriff Thomas McCartney agreed the fatal accident inquiry (FAI) will begin at Paisley Sheriff Court on August 15 and will take place in person rather than virtually. Graeme Jessop, lead counsel to the inquiry, said Mr Midgley’s mother has a “strong preference” for the hearing to be in person.
He said: “Jane Midgley, the mother of the deceased Mr Midgley, has expressed her determination to be present and hear all of the evidence at the fatal accident inquiry.
“She wishes it to be known that she has a strong preference for an in-person hearing.”
Jane does not have wi-fi access at her home address and had to listen to the hearing remotely at Victim Support offices in Yorkshire. Sherriff McCartney agreed that the hearing should be in person.
He said: "That is a strong reason why you would submit that a live hearing within court is the appropriate forum for this.”
Three weeks have been set aside for the FAI and there will be another preliminary hearing in late June. Last year, Dumbarton Sherrif Court heard the details into the fire's cause when a porter placed a bag of fuel from a fire, including newspapers and kindling, into a cupboard.
Cameron House Resort (Loch Lomond) Ltd, owner and operator of the hotel, admitted failing to take the fire safety measures necessary to ensure the safety of employees and guests between January 14, 2016, and December 18, 2017. The company admitted two charges of breaching the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and O’Malley admitted breaching sections of health and safety laws which relate to the obligation of an employee to take reasonable care for the health and safety of people affected by their acts or omissions at work.
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