Death of Rothesay man who fell from cherry picker in Perthshire 'could have been avoided'

The death of a man who fell from a cherry picker “could have been avoided” had protective measures been in place, it has been ruled.

Michael McArthur suffered catastrophic injuries after a coach struck the arm of the raised platform he stood on as he carried out decorating work on a set of windows.

The 26-year-old was thrown from the platform’s basket and fell to the road during the incident in September 2018, suffering severe injuries leading to his death.

The platform had been raised to enable work to be carried out on windows. Email

The platform had been raised to the upper levels of a house on Balkerach Street in Doune.

His family was last year awarded more than £300,000 in damages.

Kevin Bowie, the sole director of Denny-based Precision Decorating Services, has now been sentenced over health and safety failings.

It was concluded that no suitable measures were in place to effectively segregate the cherry picker from street traffic.

Bowie was also found to have failed to ensure the work being carried out at height was properly planned, appropriately supervised and that it was carried out in a manner which was, “as far as reasonably practicable”, safe.

The tour bus struck the arm of the cherry picker. Email

The director has been given a community payback order requiring him to be under supervision for 18 months.

He has also been ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work after being found guilty of a breach of the Working at Height Regulations 2005 and the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Alistair Duncan, head of the Health and Safety Investigation Unit, Crown Office, said: “This was a tragic incident that could have been avoided if Kevin Bowie had put in place appropriate protective measures to protect his employee Michael McArthur

“Falls from height are usually the greatest single cause of death and serious injury to workers within the construction industry.

“Hopefully this prosecution will remind other employers that failure to fulfil their obligations can have severe and tragic consequences and that they will be held to account for their failings.”