Cameron House Hotel fire death mum says she will fight for 'justice'

The mother of a man who died in a hotel fire says she will fight for a fatal accident inquiry into her son's death as she has seen "no justice" so far.

Richard Dyson and his partner Simon Midgley died in a fire at Cameron House Hotel by Loch Lomond in December 2017.

Jane Midgley told the BBC her life had been "destroyed" by the deaths of "her boys", who lived in North London.

The Crown Office said an FAI was not needed because the circumstances of their deaths had been established.

Ms Midgley told BBC Scotland: "My life is ruined, my life is destroyed because of this and I've no justice, no amount of justice.

"No prison sentence, no fine would ever justify what's happened, so all I've got to do now is fight for this fatal accident inquiry and make it safer for everybody else.

"And I hope and pray that they do."

It emerged during the prosecution process that the blaze started after a night porter placed a plastic bag of ashes in the concierge cupboard.

In January, Cameron House was fined £500,000 after admitting breaches of fire safety rules, while porter Christopher O'Malley was given a community payback order for breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Two weeks' ago, a coroner in England ruled that the couple were unlawfully killed and raised concerns that he had not been allowed access to documents and CCTV footage by Scottish authorities.

Ms Midgley said the English coroner's finding made her feel that "someone was really listening".

"In Scotland, I felt like it was just health and safety charges. And yet a coroner in England could say, that with the evidence he'd got... he could only come to the conclusion that they were unlawfully killed," she said.

She told BBC Scotland she was "very angry and very upset" when she heard that no FAI would be held in Scotland.

"A couple of weeks' before, they asked us to have a meeting with them and we had to tell them why we wanted a fatal accident inquiry.

"I put my heart and soul into it saying that I wanted this to be prevented in the future. I wanted to make sure that everyone was safe when they went in any kind of premises, let alone a hotel."

Last week, the Crown Office said the purpose of a fatal accident inquiry was to determine the cause of death and to establish what lessons could be learned.

The Crown Office added in a statement it was "satisfied" the reasons for the tragedy had been established.

It also said that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service would "highlight the investigation and the tragic outcomes" to the accommodation sector.

"I just thought, why did you ask me why I wanted one? I was so passionate as to why I wanted one and at the end of the day they've come back and said it's not in the public interest," Ms Midgley said.

"It's too late for the boys... But I don't want anybody to go through what I've had to go through and what I'm going through now. I want to make sure that people are safe."

A spokesperson for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said the FAI decision had been communicated to the families of Richard Dyson and Simon Midgley at meetings, with both families advised of their rights to request a review.

"The family of Mr Midgley have indicated they will exercise their rights to ask for a review of the decision not to hold a fatal accident inquiry into the deaths of Mr Midgley and Mr Dyson," the spokesperson said.

"Once that request has been received, the review will be conducted by Crown Counsel with no previous involvement in the matter.

"The families of Mr Midgley and Mr Dyson will be advised of the decision following the review."