Which brings me to the second part of this sad saga, the death of John McCafferty, 56, from carbon monoxide poisoning, after staying in a caravan sold to his sister-in-law by Corinne Mitchell. Mrs McCafferty was also poisoned and incapacitated by the noxious gas but survived because she was in a bedroom at the back of the caravan.
Mrs McCafferty raised a civil action against Scott's caravans for £250,000.
The Court of Session heard that Mr McCafferty lit the gas heater in the caravan and during the night, carbon monoxide from the flue of the heater re-entered the caravan and both suffered poisoning.
Mrs McCafferty, 59, a bakery assistant, of Mayfield, Dalkeith, is suing for the grief and sorrow of losing her husband, and for her own physical injuries and the subsequent depression which she says she suffered.
She alleges in the action that, in spite of Scott's Caravans representations, the caravan had not been serviced and inspected prior to the sale, or, if it had been, the inspection and service had not identified and corrected a defect in the installation of the heater.
Scott's Caravans does not admit that a representation was made about the caravan having been fully serviced and inspected, but says it was the invariable practice for its engineers to carry out an inspection of a caravan before agreeing to offer it for sale, on behalf of a third party. Also, it was "the invariable practice for their engineers to inspect a caravan again prior to completing the sale".
In the preliminary hearing, counsel for Scott's Caravans argued that there was "special cause" for keeping the case before a judge alone, and not allowing a jury to consider it.
Scott's Caravans stated that it had carried out an inspection, and the question was whether it had done so properly, it was said.If the company had, it would have checked the heater installation and found that the installation had not been carried out properly.
Lord Stewart said: "Clearly this has to be a matter of impression, but my impression was that this case falls well short of the degree of technical complexity that would make a case unsuitable for trial by a jury."
Lord Stewart said he had not been persuaded that there was good reason for a judge rather than a jury to decide whether Scott's Caravans, of Mayfield Industrial Estate, Dalkeith, Midlothian, and the partners, Mrs Mitchell and Ruby Guetta, were liable for the accident and should pay damages.
In the absence of any further court edicts in the case the question must be asked if this was settled out of court?
https://www.scotsman.com/news/murderer-mitchells-mother-sued-ps-14m-over-deadly-caravan-1687143
