An American tourist died of asphyxia after a Victorian cast iron bench toppled backwards and pinned him against a wall at a Highland hotel.
Patrick McGuire, 67, had been staying at the Glengarry Castle Hotel with his wife and friends when the freak accident happened.
Inverness Sheriff Court was told Mr McGuire was found seated on the upturned bench with his head pushed against the hotel wall and his chin forced into his chest.
A subsequent autopsy ruled the father-of-five had died of “positional asphyxia”.
R, J and J Cameron, the partnership that trades as The Glengarry Castle Hotel, has now admitted a single breach of health and safety legislation and been fined a five-figure sum.
Guest went outside to take photographs
Fiscal depute Roderick Urquhart told the court that on Friday April 12 2019 Mr and Mrs McGuire, from Wisconsin, arrived at the hotel for a short stay with friends James and Judith Warren.
He said at 10.30pm Mr McGuire, a university teacher, went out of the rear of the hotel to take some photographs and smoke a cigarette.
Mr Urquhart said: “His wife, Anna McGuire, retired to bed, waking at approximately 12.30am on April 13 and noticing her husband had not returned.
“Anna McGuire tried unsuccessfully to call him and then set about searching the hotel for him.
“She searched the hotel building and then extended her search outside to the hotel grounds, whereupon she eventually found Mr McGuire lying on his back with his head touching a nearby wall, in a seated position on a bench that had apparently tipped backwards.”
Mr McGuire was described as having his head up against the wall of the building, with his neck bent forward and his chin on his chest.
Emergency services were called but Mr McGuire was pronounced dead at 3.17am.
Bench not identified as health and safety risk
The court was told that the Victorian cast iron bench that Mr McGuire had been sitting on was one of a pair that had been in use at the hotel for more than 60 years.
Around five years prior to the incident two handymen working at the property decided to cut small wooden blocks to place under the rear legs of the benches to prevent them from sinking into the soft ground.
No regular checks on the stability of the benches were being made at the time and they were not identified as posing any particular health and safety risks in an audit commissioned by hotel management in 2017.
An HSE inspector later concluded that the bench was “structurally sound” and “fit for purpose, provided it was founded on a hard surface”.
After the tragedy, the benches were placed on solid ground and have subsequently been replaced by wooden models.
Hotel partners’ ‘sincere condolences’
Solicitor Jaimie McGready, speaking on behalf of R, J and J Cameron, said: “I have been asked to express my client’s sincere condolences to the family of Patrick McGuire for their loss.
“The partners are both in court today marking the seriousness with which they regard this matter.”
She said the hotel was a “family business” with more than half of its employees being drawn from the local area.
She said: “The ethos of the partnership remains rooted in family values and service to the local community. The safety of their staff and guests has always been paramount.”
“It is a matter of deep regret that the partnership appears in court today.”
Ms McGready said the business entirely accepted the findings of the investigation and noted that the benches had been in situ without incident or a near miss for more than 50 years.
The court also heard that Mr McGuire’s widow gave the business a thank you card in appreciation of their support following the incident.
Risk was ‘not an obvious one’
Noting the absence of comment about the benches in the 2017 audit, she concluded: “The risk here was not an obvious one, even to the most experienced risk assessors.”
Handing down a fine of £14,000 for the health and safety breach Sheriff Gary Aitken said it was “in no sense a reflection of the value of Mr McGuire’s life”.
Sheriff Aitken said: “Firstly can I join with parties in expressing my condolences to the family and friends of Mr McGuire.
“No one goes on holiday expecting not to come back and one would think there should be fewer more low-risk activities than going to sit outside a Highland hotel to smoke a cigarette and enjoy your evening.”
An online obituary for the grandfather-of-two said he taught for 33 years at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, as well as at Carthage College and several colleges on the East Coast.
Deceased was ‘larger than the details’
It said: “These may be the facts of his life, but Patrick was always larger than the details.
“He would be pleased to know that he was considered a conversationalist, and it is a testament to his charm that hundreds of people can confirm that an evening with him over drink and song was one of life’s great pleasures.
“He was witty, knowledgeable and passionate, with a greater ability for pinpoint recall of book, poem and movie quotes than anyone else we have ever met.”
It added: “His favourite times were sitting on the porch late into the evening looking at the stars and enjoying the peace of the night air.”