Tragic dad admonished over son’s quad death

A SHERIFF has admonished a father who admitted he was to blame for the death of his nine-year-old son.

Sheriff Neil Douglas accepted dairy farmer Charles McAlister from Bute has suffered enough after his only child Robert died in a quad bike accident at Mid Ascog.

The schoolboy was killed when he took the machine against his father’s instructions and it overturned and pinned him to the ground in a field on 2 May last year.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Paisley Sheriff Court yesterday heard how Robert McAlister had to be constantly warned about the potential hazards of riding the machine and told it was “not a toy”, but the ignition keys were never removed.

In the prosecution, brought under Health and Safety at Work Act, 1974, the 53-year-old admitted failing to ensure that others – and particularly his son – were not exposed to risks by allowing the keys and bike to be accessible, leading to Robert’s death.

Depute fiscal Carrie MacFarlane said that the Honda machine was used primarily for herding cattle on the 400-head farm and that the keys would be left in the ignition so that they would always be there whenever the accused or either of his two employees needed to use it.

The particular model of quad bike involved, she said, could not be ridden by anyone under the age of 16 as it was vital that the rider had sufficient body weight and build to be able to handle the machine in safety.

Robert had been drawn to the quad bike on many occasions and would always be warned firmly that it “was not a toy”.

The sheriff said that if the prosecution had been raised against McAlister’s company, R&J McAlister, a fine might have been appropriate but due to his limited ability to pay a financial penalty from existing earnings and against all of the tragic background circumstances of the event, the proper disposal would be to admonish him.