HEALTH and safety issues on a scallop dredger found after the death of a Scots crewman were not "so gross that it becomes criminal", a coroner has found.
Steven Robertson, 25, from Dalbeattie, Dumfries and Galloway, was lost overboard from the Kirkcudbright-based scallop boat, St Amant, on January 13, 2012, while it was in Caernarfon Bay, north Wales.
A jury endorsed a critical safety report by the Maritime Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB), which slammed the "sustained and consistent disregard" for safety displayed by the operators of the Scottish scallop dredger. The hearing heard the owner was Richard Gidney, sole director of East Yorkshire-based Night Valley Ltd, who also owned the Solway Harvester – which sank off the Isle of Man in 2000 with the loss of seven lives.
The MAIB report revealed Mr Robertson probably fell overboard and drowned when he went on to the vessel's deck to relieve himself in the middle of the night as there was no toilet on board the 59ft dredger.
The jury found Mr Robertson died from an unascertained injury.
The inquest was also told the bulwark and rail were lower than the recommended height.
Coroner Dewi Pritchard-Jones said: "We have weaknesses ... going back to a 2002 survey and they don't seem to have been acted upon." But he told the jury: "I fail to find a degree of negligence so gross it becomes criminal."
The dead fisherman's father, construction worker Craig Robertson, 52, said the inquest "doesn't bring closure as no body has been found". He added: "I think the boat has been a disgrace as far as health and safety issues are concerned."
The MAIB report said domestic facilities on St Amant were worse than when the vessel was originally built. The crew's only washing facility was the galley sink, and there was no equipment on board to store refrigerated food hygienically.
The report said: "It is unacceptable for commercial fishermen in the 21st century to have to live and work in the conditions found on board St Amant."
The report stated Night Valley had formally delegated responsibility for the operation of the St Amant, including the health and safety of the crew, to an unnamed skipper in accordance with a partnership agreement.
Alexander Baird, skipper at the time, was asked by the coroner if he had any theory about what caused the tragedy.
He replied: "No. It's a case he was there – and then he wasn't there. He has obviously fallen over the side."
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