A judge is taking time to consider whether the son of a diver who died at a shipwreck off the north coast is entitled to £500,000 compensation.
Lord Sandison told lawyers acting in an action brought by nine-year-old Vincent Warner that he would issue his decision in the case sometime in the near future.
The judge has spent the past six days listening to evidence regarding how Vincent’s father Lex lost his life off Cape Wrath in the north coast of Scotland in 2012.
Mr Warner had been making a deep water “technical dive” of a wreck off the north highland coast.
Action raised on son’s behalf
Mr Warner’s widow, Debbie, won a case at the UK Supreme Court to be allowed to raise the civil court action on their son’s behalf.
They are suing Orkney-based Scapa Flow Charters for £500,000. Lawyers for Vincent claim there was fault and neglect on the part of Scapa Flow Charters in failing to take reasonable care for the safety of Mr Warner.
Mr Warner, 50, from Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham, was taking part in a dive with others from the boat MV Jean Elaine when he died on 14 August 2012. The dive required complex, heavy equipment.
His widow had previously sued on her own behalf but her claim was ruled to be time-barred.
Lawyers for Scapa Flow Charters, which is based in Stromness, Orkney, are contesting liability in the action.
The firm maintains that Mr Warner, an industrial cleaning contractor, had a duty to walk across the deck carefully because of the heavy equipment he was wearing along with fins.
It is contended that Mr Warner’s decision to dive resulted in him experiencing increased levels of abdominal pain due to underwater pressure which in turn led to rapid ascent and death.
Mr Warner was ‘experienced’ diver
Mr Warner, 50, from Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham, was taking part in a dive with others from the boat MV Jean Elaine when he died on 14 August 2012. The dive required complex, heavy equipment.
During the action, Mr Warner was described as a very experienced, careful diver who would call off even if he had a “small sniffle”.
Andy Cuthbertson, of Scapa Flow Charters and the Jean Elaine’s skipper, told the court that prior to the dive Mr Warner had fallen while on the boat.
He said he heard “a thud” and when he looked out of a window saw Mr Warner on his knees. He and a crewman helped him back up.
Mr Cuthbertson said: “He was calling himself some fairly strong expletives, cursing himself about being stupid.
“I asked him if he was all right. He said he was perfectly fine, not hurt or anything.”
The 63-year-old skipper said he asked Mr Warner if he wanted to sit this one out. He said Mr Warner told him: “Get me in the water, get me in, get me in.”
‘He was a careful diver’
Mr Cuthbertson was asked if he had any reason to think Mr Warner had suffered an injury. He replied: “None whatsoever. Not the way he was talking.”
Eugene Farrell, 59, a former chairman of the British Sub-Aqua Club, told the court he had dived with Mr Warner “maybe a hundred times”.
Mr Farrell said: “He was certainly somebody that I felt comfortable diving with and would have felt comfortable continuing to dive with. He was a very careful diver.”
On Wednesday, Lord Sandison told lawyers he was taking the case to ‘avizandum’ – the Latin term used in Scots law meaning to takes time to consider the decision.
Lord Sandison will issue his judgement sometime in the near future.