Council fined £20k after man drowns

A council was today fined £20,000 for its liability in an incident which led to a pensioner dying.

Argyll and Bute Council pleaded guilty to breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety Act 1974 at a case held in Dunoon Sheriff Court following the death of 75-year-old Duncan MacGillivray in September 2007.

Mr MacGillivray drove over an unprotected edge of a council-owned car park at Coal Pier in Dunoon - which is on the west shore of the Firth of Clyde - after putting his vehicle into forward gear rather than reverse in order to exit a parking bay.

The fact that there was no protective barrier in place at the location meant that Mr MacGillivray fell around three metres into the sea below and became trapped in his car underwater.

Mike Orr, inspector for the HSE, commented that Mr MacGillivary died in "tragic circumstances" in an incident that could have been avoided if the council had run a simple risk assessment previously on the car park.

Posted by Craig Williams
 

20/08/2010 14:09