Widow's 'inhuman' treatment after husband's bin lorry crash death

A widow awarded £1.3m after her cyclist husband was killed by a bin lorry took legal action after claiming "inhuman" treatment by council bosses.

Katrina Ronald sued Perth & Kinross Council after husband William suffered fatal injuries in the 2018 incident.

It sparked a four-year dispute after the council insisted the cyclist was 100% to blame for the crash.

The local authority said it was "very aware" of how difficult the loss of Mr Ronald had been for his family.

Last month, a jury in a civil trial decided Mrs Ronald should receive compensation of £1,319,750 from Perth & Kinross Council for her loss.

However, the jurors concluded that Mr Ronald did act negligently in the lead up to the collision.

They decided that he was 58% responsible for the collision and that the council employee driving the bin lorry, Jordan Paterson, was 42% responsible.

Mrs Ronald, from Kelty in Fife, said: "I raised a legal action to get answers.

"I honestly think the council would have done more if their lorry killed a dog instead of my husband."

William Ronald, 46, died on 25 May 2018.

He had been cycling on the Greenknowes to Watergate Farm Road near the village of Cleish, when his bike collided with a council refuse truck.

Mr Ronald was trapped under the vehicle and medical staff tried in vain to save his life.

Police investigated the crash but prosecutors ruled out any criminal action against the lorry driver or council.

Mrs Ronald said: "With no prosecution the council dug their heels in, treated us with absolute defiance and basically said 'Your husband is 100% to blame so go away'.

"They reached their own conclusions and that was that."

The percentage of blame, known as contributory negligence, means the £1.3m compensation will be deducted by 58% to reflect Mr Ronald's portion of responsibility.

Katrina added: "I could not accept that someone would lay 100% of the blame at William's feet.

"So for me the court case was not about proving William was right but about proving the council was wrong, and we did that."

Mrs Ronald said the council needed to take a "long hard look" at itself.

She said: "From day one they didn't show a thread of empathy, but I wasn't going to just meekly bow down because me, the girls and William deserved better.

"The way they treated us was frankly inhuman and is actually what sparked this whole process."

Mrs Ronald's lawyer, Innes Laing from Digby Brown Solicitors, said: "Civil trials are extremely rare as most cases are settled out of court via negotiations.

"Katrina is also completely right - all bereaved families deserve answers and empathy and I hope others out there, from victims to responsible third parties, take note of the lessons from this rare but extremely important legal action."

A Perth & Kinross Council spokesperson said: "We are very aware of how difficult the loss of Mr Ronald has been for his family.

"The civil case brought against the council was dealt with by our insurers and we note the verdict of the jury.

"Our thoughts continue to be with Mrs Ronald and her family."