Adobe StockA sheriff has criticised Police Scotland’s handling of the death of a farmer on the Isle of Cumbrae.
James Steel was found dead by his brother at Ballochmartin Farm in Millport on September 25, 2024.
A Fatal Accident Inquiry found the 65-year-old died after being crushed between a motorised loader’s bucket and feeder trough at his farm.
Sheriff Colin Bissett raised a number of issues with the force’s handling of the death, including their failure to carry out a forensic examination of the scene or send a scenes of crime officer to the farm and “poor” witness statements.
The court heard how Mr Steel was working on his farm alongside his brother Robert Steel on the day of his death.
He intended to distribute feed to his calves using a Matbro TR200 Turbo loader vehicle.
Robert Steel, who had been working in another area of the farm, went looking for his brother after he had been away for longer than expected.
He found Mr Steel trapped between the loader’s bucket and the feeder with the engine still running.
Robert Steel believed that his brother had got out of the loader and went around the front to open the feeder lid to deposit the feed.
Investigations at the scene found that Mr Steel had an indent line across the front of his chest and a slight indent line on his lower back, consistent with him having been crushed between the loader’s bucket and the feeder.
Sheriff Bissett made no recommendations in relation to the death which occurred “as a result of an accident in the course of his work”.
His report offered a scathing opinion on the work of police. It was stated that officers said a scene examiner was unable to attend, photograph, or conduct a forensic examination of the scene due to the ferry timetable.
A detective constable instead “resorted to taking photographs of the locus and the deceased on her Pronto mobile device”.
Road traffic police officers were requested to attend the following day to conduct a mechanical examination of the loader.
However, they failed to attend, and no examination of the machine was ever carried out.
Sheriff Bissett added: “It is concerning that the mechanical condition of the machine on the date of the accident was never ascertained.
“The lack of such an examination also leaves open the question of whether it presents an ongoing danger to anyone, given it is still used on the farm.”
He added that “had more care been taken by Police Scotland in gathering evidence”, he could have come to a firmer conclusion on the cause of death.
The sheriff described the quality of witness statements obtained by police as “poor”.
He wrote: “Surprisingly, none of the three CID officers in attendance thought to obtain a statement from Robert Steel themselves.
“In his case, two supplementary witness statements were taken (the latter on my direction) due to the poor quality of the first.
“The second statement left some matters still ambiguous. By the time a third statement was taken, earlier this year, Mr Steel’s recollection of events was, he said, impaired due to the passage of time.
“He found it upsetting to be contacted to provide another statement about the circumstances of his brother’s death.”
Sheriff Bissett said he still has not been given a suitable reason why road policing officers could not have examined the loader.
“No answer was given to the Procurator Fiscal when they sought an explanation from Police Scotland on my direction”, he added.
“The only explanation for the failure to send a scenes of crime officer to the locus is given in the witness statements as ‘due to the ferry timetable’.
“Given that those officers were themselves able to attend the scene by ferry, it is not obvious why a scenes of crime officer could not.”
He also described the decision of the Health and Safety Executive not to investigate the circumstances of James Steel’s death as “taken in haste”.
He added: “While Mr Steel did not have any known employees, it is clear that Robert Steel worked on the
farm every day.
“The decision to not investigate might ultimately be in keeping with the HSE’s statutory obligations (I do not offer any opinion on its correctness) but it is surprising that more care was not taken to ascertain the exact circumstances of Robert Steel’s daily work on the farm.”
Sheriff Bissett concluded by describing James Steel as a “hard-working man in a difficult and demanding occupation”.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We are aware and reviewing the determination and will take action as appropriate.”
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