The Rosepark care home fire in which 14 people died in 2004 is to be the subject of a fatal accident inquiry after a judge dismissed charges against Thomas, Anne and Alan Balmer, the surviving members of the partnership which ran the home.
After hearing legal arguments in the High Court in Glasgow, Lord Matthews dismissed the third attempt to prosecute the three on health and safety legislation charges. The judge ruled they could not be held responsible as the firm they ran had subsequently been dissolved, and Scottish law does not allow for the prosecution of a dissolved partnership.
On that basis, the solicitor general, Frank Mulholland QC, announced that the prosecution would not appeal against the judgement, in effect closing any criminal proceedings and paving the way for the fatal accident inquiry.
“The decision not to appeal Lord Matthews’ decision and to proceed now with a fatal accident inquiry has been taken after careful consideration as to what is in the public interest. In particular, we have considered the stress and frustration caused to those who lost loved ones by an ongoing legal process which, so far, has been unable to provide them with any answers as to what happened.”
Mr Mulholland later said that the families whose relatives had died in the fire were right to feel let down. “It must be terrible for them, and terribly frustrating and my heart goes out to them,” he told the Scotland on Sunday newspaper. “I think the legal system has let the families down and evidence that in our view should be considered by a judge can’t be heard before a judge. That’s very frustrating. The families are right to feel let down by the law. We have got to fix it so that if this happens again in the future, what the families are going through will not happen again.”
It is understood that Scottish and UK Government officials will now work together to consider how to change the law on the prosecution of partnerships that have been dissolved.
Fatal accident inquiries are held under the Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiries (Scotland) Act 1976. Evidence is presented by or on behalf of the Procurator Fiscal and interested parties, who will normally include representatives of the next of kin.
