NEWS


COUNCIL PROSECUTED AFTER FAILURES LED TO CARE HOME DEATH


A local authority has been fined after the death of a patient who went missing from a care home on the Isle of Barra.


Western Isles Council pled guilty to a charge under the Health and Safety at Work Act following the death of a 69-year-old man at St Brendan’s Care Home in Castlebay.


Allan MacLeod, who had been diagnosed with Dementia, had been a resident at the home – one of five operated by the council throughout the Western Isles – for around six months at the time of his death. In the early hours of 9 March 2024, he had been able to leave his bedroom without the knowledge of staff and was only found around four hours after going missing. He died a short time later in hospital.


Mr MacLeod had been placed in the home in October 2023 to allow him to be nearer a relative who stayed on Barra. In his first month at the home, staff observed him and determined patterns in his behaviour and how they could best assist him. He was


able to go on regular road trips around the island with his family.


On 8 March, having been settled in bed around 9pm, hourly checks were carried out to ensure his wellbeing, but at 2am on 9 March, his bed was unoccupied, and he could not be accounted for after a search of the home.


To avoid being observed by staff, he had exited the home via the only door that was not alarmed and was 10 metres from his bedroom. Police Scotland were alerted and a search initiated.


Local Coastguard, RNLI and firefighters were called out to assist in the search and at around 6am, the Coastguard helicopter detected a heat signature near the home on the patio of a residential property.


Mr MacLeod was found with facial injuries consistent with falling. He was transferred to hospital, but despite the efforts of medical staff, he died an hour later.


An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) determined that he had made several previous attempts to leave the home. Any measures that staff had taken to mitigate this, by fitting an electronic tag to his clothing that indicated his whereabouts had been defeated by Mr Macleod having removed it.


A risk assessment carried out in December 2023 indicated that Mr MacLeod would remove a tag if he located it, therefore staff were required to be vigilant to this behaviour. It was only after his death that the home introduced a regime of half hourly checks on residents. Arrangements had already been made to install keypad entry systems on all doors, but this work had not been completed before Mr MacLeod’s death.


Western Isles Council, of Sandwick Road, Stornoway, pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 31 and Section 33(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The council was fined £80,000 at Lochmaddy Sheriff Court on 6 August 2025.


FATHER-OF-THREE CRUSHED TO DEATH AT PORT TALBOT PLANT SEES TATA STEEL FINED £1.5M


Tata Steel has been fined £1.5m following the death of a contractor at its Port Talbot steelworks plant.


Justin Day’s family learnt of his death while they were waiting for him at his youngest son’s school rugby match.


The much-loved father-of-three and grandfather was working at the steel manufacturer’s site in South Wales when he was crushed to death by a piece of machinery on 25 September 2019.


Maintenance work to replace a lift cylinder on a large conveyor system had been completed earlier that day, and the system was in the process of being put back into service when a


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hydraulic leak was found. A radio call was sent out for Justin, 44, to resolve the issue at about 2pm.


Although power was isolated to part of the system, other sections remained live. As staff worked on the lower level to fix the leak, Justin returned to the floor above and climbed into the conveyor system. His presence triggered sensors that activated a moving beam in a live section, fatally injuring him. He was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.


Tata Steel failed to ensure the conveyor system was properly isolated and guarded. The company did not take sufficient steps to manage the safety of the ongoing work.


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