Widow awarded £1.3m over husband's bin lorry death
- Published
William Ronald died in 2018 in a collision with a council bin lorry while cycling
A widow has been awarded more than £1.3m in damages over the death of her RAF veteran husband who was struck by a bin lorry while cycling.
Jurors decided Katrina Ronald should receive compensation of £1,319,750 from Perth & Kinross Council for her loss.
William Ronald, 46, died on 25 May 2018.
He had been cycling on the Greenknowes to Watergate Farm Road near the village of Cleish when his bike collided with a council refuse truck.
The Court of Session in Edinburgh heard how Mr Ronald had been trapped under the vehicle and that medical staff had tried in vain to save his life.
However, jurors concluded that Mr Ronald did act negligently in the lead up to the collision.
They decided that he was 58% responsible for the collision and that the council employee driving the bin lorry, Jordan Paterson, was 42% responsible.
This means the damages awarded to Mr Ronald's family will be reduced by 58%.
Mrs Ronald, 55, of Kelty in Fife, also sued on behalf of her daughter Honey.
The court heard how the 12-year-old struggles with grief and sleeps every night with her father's ashes which are stored in a teddy bear.
The jurors concluded that Honey should be awarded £95,000 and two other members of Mr Ronald's family will receive £67,500 each.
Mrs Ronald wept as she relived the moments after she learned of her husband's death.
She said she could not believe that her husband had died and said telling Honey was "the worst thing I've ever had to do".
"I had to tell my daughter - she was only seven. I told her 'daddy's dead. He's not coming back.'
'He cannot die'
Mrs Ronald told the court that she had seen her husband earlier in the day before he went out for a bike ride.
When he failed to return for work, she went out to look for him as she thought he might have needed some help.
Mrs Ronald said she saw an ambulance parked and the crew told her that their colleagues were dealing with a cyclist close by.
When she asked whether they were treating a William Ronald, she said a police officer told her he was dead.
"When the police said he's dead, I said 'no he's not dead'," she said.
"I started to argue with him - I said 'no he cannot die.'
"I wanted to see him but he said you can't see him. He told me I couldn't see him. I saw the bin lorry up the road."
She said she decided to take action against the local authority as she believed it was liable for the death of Mr Ronald through the actions of their employee Mr Paterson.
The court was told that the collision between Mr Ronald and the bin lorry took place on a blind bend on the road.
Jurors heard how accident investigators recovered a bike computer from Mr Ronald's bicycle which showed that he was travelling at 16mph in the moments leading up to the collision.
The computer also showed that he was travelling at 30mph at another part of the road.
The court heard that the bin lorry was travelling at around 11mph.
In his closing speech to the jury, Perth & Kinross Council's advocate Ranald Macpherson said that the bin lorry driver was driving safely and acted appropriately.
"The bicycle was going too fast," he said.
"Mr Paterson was driving at an appropriate speed. There was nothing more he could have done.
"This was a terrible accident which had tragic consequences. However, it was not an accident which was caused by Mr Paterson."
'Out of the blue'
Mrs Ronald's lawyer Robert Milligan KC urged jurors to award compensation to her for the loss.
"No amount of money will ever bring back Mrs Ronald's husband," he said.
"No sum of money will give her back another Christmas, another birthday or a wedding anniversary.
"It won't allow them to sit on the couch and watch TV together.
"But she was not given time to prepare for this. It came out of the blue. It came on a warm sunny May day."
A family statement issued through the Digby Brown legal firm said: "We mourn the loss of William every day - it's something we'll never truly come to terms with.
"We'd just like to thank everyone who has supported us over the last five years, but as the civil action is ongoing we don't wish to comment further at this time."