Boat hire owners fined after man's death on Loch Awe

Father-to-be Kieran Cowan was on a fishing trip with friends when the boat he was in capsized

The owners of a boat hire company have been fined £10,000 following a 23-year-old man's death on Loch Awe in Argyll.

Kieran Cowan, from Prestonpans, was one of three men in the boat when it capsized on 17 August 2019.

Oban Sheriff Court heard that the owners of Loch Awe Boats had intended to cancel the men's booking due to a forecast of bad weather.

But an agreement was reached that they could have the boat provided it was used when the loch was calm.

Mr Cowan and his two friends, brothers Kyle and Nathan Cairney, were trying to get back to a campsite following a fishing trip when their craft capsized amid worsening weather conditions.

The Crown Office also said a marine expert identified defects with the boat.

Clifford Davies, 64, and Janet Lightbown, 57, the joint owners of the boat hire business, have each been fined £5,000 after pleading guilty to a health and safety breach.

'Pretty wild'

The family of Mr Cowan, a carpenter who had been due to become a father, said they had been left heartbroken by his death.

In a statement released through their solicitors Digby Brown, the family said: "We're glad those responsible are held accountable."

The boat was hired for the weekend of 17 and 18 August.

Davies emailed Kyle Cairney to cancel the booking, saying this was because the business' licence prohibited boats being hired out in winds in excess of 18mph and 17 August was "set to be pretty wild".

But it was later agreed the men could have the boat on condition they went directly to their campsite on the island of Inishail while it was calm, and then did not go back out on the water until the following morning when the weather was forecast to improve.

The group, however, went out on to the loch to fish.

'Chain of events'

While returning from a relatively sheltered area to their campsite, the conditions worsened. Waves started coming over the bow of their boat as they crossed the largest open area of the loch and it started filling with water.

The men were trying to bail water out when the boat capsized.

The brothers made the 10-minute swim to safety and raised the alarm.

Searches were made for Mr Cowan and his body was recovered by Police Scotland's Marine Unit on 20 August.

Following sentencing at Oban Sheriff Court, Debbie Carroll, who leads on health and safety investigations for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said Loch Awe Boats had fallen short of the hire boat code on 17 August 2019.

She said: "This incident would not have occurred had they not hired out the boat that day, as was their original intention because of the forecast adverse weather.

"Their decision set in motion a chain of events that resulted in the death of a young man.

"Those who hire boats to the public must be aware of their duties and responsibilities, especially when hiring to persons who may be inexperienced when taking to the water."