Former police officer settles Hampden horse fall case

Former constable Alison Scott was working as a mounted officer when she was injured. Generic picture.

A former mounted police officer who sued for £1m after she fell off her horse at a football match has settled her case for an undisclosed sum.

Alison Scott, 50, had to give up her job after seriously damaging her foot and ankle when she became trapped under her mount, Tobermory.

The ex-Strathclyde Police constable claimed the horse had a history of behavioural issues.

The case was settled before it called at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

Details surrounding the settlement have not been revealed.

Ms Scott, from Symington, South Ayrshire, raised an action against former Police Scotland Chief Constable Phil Gormley as a result of the incident.

When she was injured it was understood to have been the sixth time that Tobermory had stumbled and fallen.

She claimed the horse was unpredictable, aggressive and had a tendency to fall.

Mrs Scott was on duty at the 2013 CIS Cup Final when St Mirren beat Hearts

The incident which led to Mrs Scott's action occurred at the CIS Cup Final at Glasgow's Hampden Park on March 17, 2013, when St Mirren beat Hearts 3-2.

The claim was being contested by lawyers acting for the force.

The Court of Session had previously heard Mrs Scott's horse kicked out at another police horse, striking its hind leg and drawing blood.

She said she later tried to move Tobermory out of the line of horses on duty to prevent more incidents but claims that, as she did so, the horse "suddenly and without warning lost his footing and fell over".

Tobermory was sent to a horse welfare centre in Deeside but fell again and was put down in 2015.

Mrs Scott said she was medically retired from the police in 2014.

She said she has been unable to return to riding and that before the fall she had two horses she rode competitively at showjumping events.

Mr Gormley said she was a trained and experienced police rider and the force had fulfilled all its common law duties to her.