Cameron House: Mother hoping for closure in fire deaths inquiry

Richard Dyson, left, and Simon Midgley, who both died in the blaze, had been on a winter break in Scotland

A mother whose son and his partner died in a hotel fire has said she was hoping for "closure" when an inquiry into their deaths begins in August.

Simon Midgley, 32, and his partner Richard Dyson, 38, died in the blaze at Cameron House Hotel on Loch Lomond in December 2017.

Simon's mother Jane Midgley, from Leeds, said waiting for answers about the fire had been her worst nightmare.

The fatal accident inquiry (FAI) is set to begin in August.

In January 2021, the hotel's operator was fined £500,000 and night porter Christopher O'Malley was given a community payback order over the fire.

Mrs Midgley attended the first procedural hearing for the FAI in January but was "very disappointed" no date was initially fixed for it to begin.

At a continued virtual preliminary hearing on Tuesday, Sheriff Thomas McCartney agreed the FAI would start at Paisley Sheriff Court on 15 August and take place in person.

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Mrs Midgley said: "Four and a half years on, it is a long time for things to be put right and for changes to be made, if any.

"It's been my worst nightmare, waiting for answers, waiting to see what is going to happen next, will there be any changes, why has it taken so long, why does it take all this time - these questions need to be asked.

"Two young men lost their lives and, four and a half years on, what has changed? What legislation has changed and what has changed in health and safety in Scotland?"

Mrs Midgley listened to Tuesday's hearing remotely and welcomed the decision that the FAI itself would be a live hearing at the court.

She said: "I'm very pleased that it is going to be in-person, this is very important to me, very, very important, that we get answers, that we have changes made and this kind of thing never happens again.

"I'm just hoping there are no more delays and we can get this sorted and finally get some closure on it. I will be there every day, I won't miss a minute."

Aerial photographs show the extent of the damage to Cameron House

Crown Counsel Graeme Jessop told the hearing that Mrs Midgley does not have wifi access at her home and listened to the hearing remotely at Victim Support offices in Yorkshire.

Sheriff McCartney said: "That is a strong reason why you would submit that a live hearing within court is the appropriate forum for this."

Three weeks has been set aside for the FAI and there will be a further preliminary hearing in late June.

Fire safety failures

Dumbarton Sheriff Court heard in January 2021 that Mr Midgley and Mr Dyson were staying in the luxury resort on a winter break on the night of the fire.

The blaze was started after night porter Christopher O'Malley placed a plastic bag of ashes in the concierge cupboard.

Cameron House Resort (Loch Lomond) Ltd was fined £500,000 and O'Malley was given a community payback order for breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act.

The hotel operator admitted failing to take the fire safety measures necessary to ensure the safety of employees and guests and two charges of breaching the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005.

The Crown Office initially said an FAI was not needed because the circumstances of the fatalities had been established - but a review overturned the decision after Mrs Midgley called for wider lessons to be learned.

A coroner in England ruled that the couple were unlawfully killed and raised concerns that he had not been allowed access to documents and CCTV footage by Scottish authorities.