Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Inquiry into death of Highland shepherd who plunged 40ft off cliff

Sandy Robbins
Sandy Robbins

An inquiry is to be held into the death of a Highland shepherd who plunged 40ft from a cliff on his quad bike.

Father-of-three Sandy Robbins was tending sheep near Durness in Sutherland when the tragedy happened on April 1 this year.

A passerby raised the alarm after spotting his bike on a beach below the area where he was working at Daill on Cape Wrath.

The Stornoway coastguard helicopter was sent to the scene to airlift him to hospital, but Mr Robbins could not be saved.

And now, a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) is to be held at Tain Sheriff COurt on August 22 and 23.

Mr Robbins, who was in his 60s, lived at Rhigolter, about nine miles from Durness.

He worked for Balnakiel Farm looking after the flock of David Elliot, who has grazing rights at Cape Wrath.

The cape is accessed by boat across the narrow Kyle of Durness.

At the time, local Highland council member Hugh Morrison said Mr Robbins had lived in the area for more than 20 years.

“The community is in shock – people are devastated at the news,” he said. “We do not know exactly what happened, but he went over the cliff somewhere between Daill and Achimore. It is a drop of between 40ft-45ft.

“Someone saw the quad on the beach and raised the alarm.

“Sandy was a lovely man, dedicated to his work and his family and people are in shock. It is a tragic accident.

“The community sends its deepest sympathy to Anne and the family. It is obviously a devastating thing to happen to them.”

A police spokeswoman confirmed at the time that he had died at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.

He added: “There are no apparent suspicious circumstances and, as with all sudden deaths, a report will be sent to the procurator fiscal.”