'It has been a strain, but at least families now know exactly what happened'

THE son of one of the Rosepark care home victims last night praised the sheriff at the helm the fatal accident inquiry for having done an "excellent job".

John Lappin's mother, Margaret, 83, was one of the 14 elderly residents who died in the fire at the Uddingston home in 2004.

He described the inquiry, the longest in Scottish legal history, as a "strain" which had thrown up unpleasant memories, but expressed relief at the closure it offered him and the other families.

Speaking from his home in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, the 64-year-old retired telephone engineer said nothing would bring back his mother, who had been at the care home for only seven months at the time of the tragedy.

He said: "I think Mr Lockhart has done an excellent job. I think that, through the FAI, the families have been given a lot of information - everything has come out. I've seen how mother died. It wasn't very pleasant, I can assure you, but it had to be done. The FAI has covered everything, the mistakes that were made, and the things that could have been done.

"Thank God it's changed, and the mistakes will never happen again. But unfortunately it's a pity all these recommendations weren't in place in 2004 when my mother and the rest of the people died.

"We know exactly what happened. We can't bring my mother or anyone else back, but we're glad of the closure. It's been quite a strain having to sit through the whole procedure."

Asked if he wanted to see a criminal case pursued against the owners of Rosepark, Mr Lappin said it was in the hands of the Scottish Government and Westminster to change the laws.

He added: "The Crown Office has tried on three different occasions to bring charges, but at the moment Scottish law doesn't legislate for that."