Date set for joint inquiry into water sport deaths

Kayden Walker and Ruaridh Stevenson drowned five years apart during outdoor water activities

A joint fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into the deaths of a boy and a man who drowned five years apart during outdoor water activities will take place next March.

Kayden Walker, 12, died after he became trapped on the upstream side of a weir on the River Tay in Perthshire in July 2019.

Ruaridh Stevenson, 39, drowned after he tried to help a client who got into difficulty in the waters flowing through Dollar Glen, Clackmannanshire, in April last year.

A court was told an expert from Norway in legal cases involving accidents in outdoor adventure environments will give evidence at the FAI, as no one in the UK could be found to carry out an expert assessment.

Kayden, from Bridgeton in Glasgow, was separated from his board for more than three minutes before an instructor could free him during the boogie boarding session near Stanley.

Outdoor Pursuits Scotland Ltd, who ran the activity, were fined £100,000 last year after admitting a breach of health and safety legislation at Perth Sheriff Court.

Mr Stevenson was a director of another outdoor pursuits company, Adventure Logic Ltd, which offered "canyoning" experiences on Scottish rivers.

Police were called to Dollar Glen, a popular beauty spot, in April 2024 following reports of concern for three people in the water.

Two women were rescued but Mr Stevenson was pronounced dead at the scene.

Fiscal depute Catherine Fraser told Falkirk Sheriff Court that Tim Davis of TrollAktiv, based near Stravanger in Norway, had already inspected the weir where Kayden's accident occurred.

The court heard that he would travel to Dollar Glen later this month to inspect the site of Mr Stevenson's death.

Ms Fraser said: "He will draft an expert report to provide an opinion in relation to matter of good practice in the activities of kayaking and river boarding, along with his observations on reasonable precautions that could have been implemented that may have prevented the deaths of both Kayden Walker and Mr Stevenson."

The hearing was told that much of the background to both incidents was capable of agreement, and the factual evidence about what had happened was not expected to be disputed.

Sheriff Keith O'Mahony said a further preliminary hearing would be held on 17 November and ordered that the ten-day inquiry should start on 16 March next year.

The FAI will determine the cause of the deaths and the circumstances around them, and will establish what reasonable precautions could have been taken to minimise the risk of future deaths in similar circumstances.

The inquiry will also consider the current regulation of canyoning and river boarding.