No fatal accident inquiry into Cameron House deaths

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

There will be no fatal accident inquiry into the deaths of two men during a fire at Cameron House Hotel, the Crown Office has confirmed.

Richard Dyson and Simon Midgley, who were from North London, died at the hotel by Loch Lomond in December 2017.

The Crown Office said an FAI was not needed because the circumstances of their deaths had been established.

Mr Midgley's mother, Jane, told BBC Scotland she would request a review of the decision.

"I am very upset and angry," she said.

"I want to find out more about what happened that night and for lessons to be learned. There's so much to be learned from what happened.

"It's too late for the boys but let's do it for other people."

• Cameron House fined £500,000 over fatal hotel fire

• Fatal hotel fire caused by ash left in cupboard

• Mum 'tortured' by son's death in hotel fire

It emerged during the prosecution process that the blaze started after a night porter placed a plastic bag of ashes in the concierge cupboard.

In January, Cameron House was fined £500,000 after admitting breaches of fire safety rules, while porter Christopher O'Malley was given a community payback order for breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Last week 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.

Firefighters arrived within 10 minutes of the 999 call

In a statement published on Monday, the Crown Office confirmed their lawyers had decided not to hold an inquiry into the deaths of Mr Dyson and Mr Midgley.

They said the purpose of a fatal accident inquiry was to determine the cause of death and to establish what lessons could be learned in order to minimise the risk of future deaths in similar circumstances.

They were "satisfied that the reasons for this tragedy have been established and that the circumstances of the deaths were publicly identified during the prosecution process," they added.

The fire service, it said, would also engage with the accommodation sector to highlight the investigation and inform best practice.

In light of the judicial findings and safety review, the Crown Office concluded that the public interest would not be further served by an FAI as "the purpose of such an inquiry has already been met".

Alistair Duncan, head of the Crown's health and safety investigation unit said: "COPFS appreciates the impact the fire has had on the families and friends of Mr Dyson and Mr Midgley and many other people who were at the hotel that night.

"The nearest relatives of those who lost their lives have been provided with detailed reasons for the decision not to hold an FAI and our thoughts are with them at this time."

The families of Mr Dyson and Mr Midgley were consulted before the decision was taken.

The Crown Office said any review of their decision would be conducted by legal staff with no previous involvement in the matter.

• WHO KILLED EMMA? Journalist Sam Poling investigates the unsolved murder of a young woman

• THE DOORSTEP MURDER: The killing of Alistair Wilson is one of Scotland’s most baffling cases

• PODLITICAL: BBC journalists provide updates from the Scottish Parliament election campaign