Appeal judges at Scotland’s highest civil court have reserved their decision in a legal challenge brought against a decision to award £290,000 to a boy following the death of his diver dad.
Lex Warner, 50, suffered a fall on a dive support boat, MV Jean Elaine, and later died in August 2012 after taking part in a “deep water” technical dive from the vessel to a wreck off Cape Wrath in the north of Scotland.
His widow, Debbie Warner, of Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham, brought a court action for damages against Orkney-based Scapa Flow Charters on behalf of her son Vincent, who was nine months old at the time of his father’s death.
The case centred on how Mr Warner fell on board the MV Jean Elaine whilst walking in fins and sustained an abdominal injury. The diver later got into trouble when in the water.
Lord Sandison said that a system should have been in place to avoid or minimise the practice of technical divers walking on deck on the vessel while wearing fins.
The judge said: “Had such a system for the promotion of safer fin practices been in place, the likelihood is that it would have performed its intended function of eradicating or minimising the risk of falling and that Mr Warner would not have fallen at all, or if he did, he would not sustained a serious injury such as he in fact sustained.”
But lawyers acting on behalf of the charter operation contested Lord Sandison’s ruling and a one-day hearing took place before Scotland’s most senior judge, the Lord President Lord Carloway, sitting with Lord Woolman and Lord Pentland.
The judges will give their decision at a later date, yet to be fixed.
