Farm fined £120,000 after carbon monoxide death of student
- Published
Thomas Hill ran an animal rescue charity with his partner
The owners of a holiday cottage where a teenager died from carbon monoxide poisoning in 2015 have been fined.
Thomas Hill, 18, was found unconscious behind a bathroom door at Glenmark Cottage, near Tarfside, in Angus, where faulty gas heaters were found.
Burghill Farms and Piers Le Cheminant, who ran the cottage, admitted exposing holidaymakers to the risk of death.
Burghill Farms was fined £120,000 and Le Cheminant, 76, was fined £2,000 at Dundee Sheriff Court.
Mr Hill was on holiday at the remote cottage with his partner Charlotte Beard and her family at the time of his death.
Thomas Hill and his partner Charlotte Beard were on holiday with her parents at the time of Mr Hill's death
Mr Hill was a first-year student at Stirling University and also ran an animal rescue charity with Ms Beard.
Speaking outside the court after the hearing, Mr Hill's father Jerry said his son's death had been "totally avoidable".
"Tom was a really special young man and it seems to us what killed him was a series of failures really," he said.
"I don't think anyone comes out of this process with great credit. It just seems that everyone tries to divert the blame."
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Ms Beard said that she and Mr Hill had been expecting a child, and the grief over his death had caused her to miscarry the following month.
She said: "I lost my love, my baby, and the future I had planned with Tom."
Dundee Sheriff Court heard that the cottage was owned at the time by the Earl of Dalhousie and his heir Lord Ramsay.
Fiscal depute Gavin Callaghan previously told Dundee Sheriff Court that facilities at the cottage were "basic".
He said Mr Hill had gone to take a bath in the cottage on the afternoon of 28 October, 2015.
Mr Hill's parents said their son's death had been "totally avoidable"
Mr Callaghan said: "Around an hour after he went to have his bath, Ms Beard went to check he was OK.
"The bathroom door was locked, and receiving no response, entry to the room was ultimately forced, whereupon Mr Hill was found sitting, resting against the door."
Mr Callaghan said there was a smell of gas coming from the heater in the room, which was also making a buzzing sound.
He said: "Extensive efforts were made to revive Mr Hill by various persons, including the Beard family, estate workers, and ambulance personnel."
However, Mr Hill was pronounced dead in an ambulance en route to Dundee's Ninewells Hospital.
His cause of death was later confirmed as carbon monoxide poisoning.
A subsequent investigation revealed that there had been cracks in the heater and it was found to be producing carbon monoxide greatly in excess of safe levels.
Charlotte Beard was comforted outside the court by relatives
Burghill Farms and Le Cheminant both admitted that between March 2008 and October 2015 they failed to ensure gas cabinet heaters were maintained in a safe condition to prevent the risk of injury to holiday residents.
They admitted the heaters were being used in rooms which were too small and not ventilated enough.
The court was told that Le Cheminant was a long-standing user of the cottage and had leased it since 2008, with permission to sub-lease it as a holiday home.
Piers Le Cheminant was fined £2,000 at Dundee Sheriff Court
Mr Callaghan said the heater "should never have been in the bathroom."
He said: "A competent gas engineer would have identified the risk. Neither Burghill Farms nor Mr Le Cheminant had a pro-active system of maintenance.
"There would have been a number of people over the period of the charge. Any person in the cottage over the period would have been exposed to risk."
The court heard that rooms at the cottage had insufficient ventilation
Mr Callaghan said the criminal case would be followed by a fatal accident inquiry.
In a statement issued after the case, Burghill Farms partner Simon Ramsay said: "We previously offered our heartfelt condolences to Thomas Hill's family and friends and do so again today.
"Following discussion with the family, a small grove of trees was planted near the cottage and in response to a family request, donations have been made to appropriate charities."