Appeal against care home's £20,000 cleaning fluid death fine

Tigh-Na-Muirn Ltd admitted health and safety failings in relation to Mr Fyfe's death

Appeal judges have been asked to overturn a "lenient" £20,000 fine given to a care home over the death of a resident who drank cleaning fluid.

David Fyfe, 90, died from ammonia poisoning four days after drinking the substance in his room at Tigh-Na-Muirn in Monifieth in 2020.

Tigh-Na-Muirn Ltd previously admitted being responsible for Mr Fyfe's death.

Prosecutor Alan Cameron said the original sheriff did not properly consider the circumstances of the case.

In May the company, which has 120 staff and 59 residents, admitted a number of health and safety failings.

This included leaving a bottle of ammonium-based liquid on top of the en-suite bathroom cabinet in Mr Fyfe's room.

A Covid resilience plan said the room's cleaning products were to be stored on top of the bathroom cabinet

Earlier this year, Dundee Sheriff Court heard Mr Fyfe, who had several health issues, had been confined to his room after contracting Covid.

But on 27 May 2020, at the height of the first lockdown, Mr Fyfe was found seriously unwell with breathing difficulties and chest pains.

Staff observed a cup with the residue of green liquid in it on a table, which was the same colour as the sanitiser.

Paramedics transferred Mr Fyfe to hospital, where he gradually deteriorated until his death on 31 May.

Sheriff Jillian Martin Brown said it was not known why the bottle of cleaning fluid had no label.

But she added: "With the benefit of hindsight, Steri-Germ ought not to have been stored in an accessible place in Mr Fyfe's room."

During the original case, the sheriff said she considered "mitigating factors" in her decision.

• Care home fined £20,000 over patient's cleaning fluid death

• Care home patient died after drinking cleaning fluid left in room

She added: "While the company fell short of the required standard, genuine efforts were being made in extremely challenging circumstances to respond to and react to a rapidly changing situation to keep residents and staff safe.

"The incident was an isolated one."

But at the appeal court in Edinburgh on Friday Mr Cameron told judges that that they should impose a more severe penalty on the firm.

He said: "The sheriff relied too much on the mitigatory circumstances in the case, and not enough on the aggravating circumstances in the matter."

Defence advocate Barry Smith KC told the court that Sheriff Martin Brown had acted correctly in the case and asked the appeal judges to reject the request.

The appeal judges will issue their decision in the near future.