Gregor Deakin died on 6 October 2021 after an accident where a JCB being driven by him fell off the pier at Ardeonaig Hotel, Killin and landed in Loch Tay.

Mr Deakin was a director and employee of Ardeonaig Limited and had been renovating the hotel for a year prior to the incident.

As part of improvement works there, a marina had been created and works were ongoing to improve, strengthen and extend the pier.

The inquiry, where evidence was led and submissions presented, was held at Stirling Sheriff Court last month.

In the determination of the findings following the hearing, Sheriff Derek Hamilton concluded that Mr Deakin died after the excavator he had been operating was too wide for the pier and it toppled into the loch – trapping him in the cab.

The cab was fully submerged and Mr Deakin was unable to escape and he was eventually removed by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

Attempts were made to resuscitate Mr Deakin but he was pronounced dead at around 3.40pm.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) launched an investigation.

It was later determined that an alternative exit, through the rear window of the cab, was provided for use in an emergency. To use the emergency exit necessitated either pulling a ring attached to the window rubber that released the window glass allowing it to be pushed out, or breaking the glass.

The investigation found that, at the section of the pier where the excavator was positioned, the tracks were wider than the pier – the pier being 2015mm wide and the tracks at least 2200mm wide.

Sheriff Hamilton said in the report: “Quite simply this tragic accident was caused by Mr Deakin using equipment and a method of working on the pier which were inherently unsafe.

“The excavator was on this occasion too large to operate on the pier. Its tracks were wider than the width of the pier, thereby allowing little room for error when manoeuvring the excavator.

“There was no room for Mr Deakin to rotate the excavator on its own tracks. Mr Deakin elected to reverse the excavator. He could have rotated the top structure 180 degrees.

“The cab would then have been facing forwards, but the levers/pedals used to drive the excavator would have operated in reverse fashion.

“Even doing this however would still have placed Mr Deakin in some danger due to the size, and particularly the width, of the excavator’s tracks. Mr Deakin had to negotiate a 90 degree bend in an excavator which quite simply was too large to operate safely on the pier.

“It was during that turning manoeuvre, that the tracks slipped off the edge of the pier and the excavator toppled into the water.

“Tragically, the excavator did not come to rest on the side which first entered the water.

“The excavator appears to have toppled over with its nearside coming to rest facing downwards to the bottom of the loch.

“This preventing Mr Deakin escaping from the cab, or rescuers entering into the cab, through the excavator door.

“There may have been many reason why Mr Deakin could not use the emergency escape, but there was no evidence from which any conclusions could be drawn.”

He added: “Mr Deakin had been involved in many business ventures and he was clearly an enthusiastic and hard-working man.

“He was a family man, a man who was cheerful and upbeat and a man with a zest for life. He was not selfish with his talents and enthusiasm, and he shared them with his local community.

“I offer my condolences to Mr Deakin’s wife, to his two young children and to his wider family.”

Following the publication of the determination, Procurator Fiscal Andy Shanks, who leads on fatalities investigations for COPFS said: “The Procurator Fiscal ensured that the full facts and circumstances of Mr Deakin’s death were provided at the mandatory Fatal Accident Inquiry.

“The determination has been provided to Mr Deakin’s family and our thoughts are with them at this time.”