Following the conviction of Cameron House Resort (Loch Lomond) Limited and a member of staff, which involved a detailed, public judicial statement when the accused were sentenced, the Crown Office had decided that the circumstances of the deaths had been established and that the public interest would not be further served by an FAI.
The family of Mr Midgley subsequently exercised their right to ask for a review of the decision not to hold a Fatal Accident Inquiry.
The review of prosecutorial and FAI decisions is an important and regular feature of our work. Last year, review was requested 190 times and an original decision was overturned in 10 per cent of those instances. The presence of a right to review ensures the robustness of COPFS processes.
A full review was carried out by Crown Counsel with no previous involvement in the original decision-making process.
The families have been told about the outcome of the review.
The following is attributable to a spokesperson for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service:
“This was a devastating fire which caused two deaths and put the lives of many others at risk.
“During two prosecutions, information on the causes and circumstances of the deaths of Mr Midgley and Mr Dyson were presented in court. Meaningful changes have been made and lessons have been learned from the events.
“Nonetheless, a review by independent Crown Counsel with no previous involvement in this case has concluded that there are wider public interest issues around the safety of guests and building fire safety which ought to feature in a Fatal Accident Inquiry.
“The Procurator Fiscal has now started work to initiate this inquiry and there are a number of legal steps which must be taken before it can commence. The detailed work carried out in the preparation of the prosecutions will be invaluable in this process.
“The families will be kept informed of what will happen next.”